On September 27, the World Tourism Day, the Green Destinations Platform unveiled the TOP 100 List of Good Practice Stories from all over the world, sharing and promoting stories that recount innovative and effective initiatives and projects from destinations working towards more sustainable development globally.

Kyrgyzstan was represented in this event by Destination Karakol, Destination Osh, the Kyrgyz Community-Based Tourism Association, the Swiss Bai Alai Project, the Swiss Sustainable Winter Tourism Development Project and the EU-funded SWITCH-Asia GreenTour: Promoting Sustainable Tourism in Kyrgyzstan Project, which initiated participation of the above organizations in the Green Destinations’ Annual Conference.

The submitted good practice story is about reducing poverty among rural women through a decisive approach that was applied by the key stakeholders - CBT Alay, Bai Alai, Business Women of Alay Association, wool producers, the municipality, and the partners - to support and expose women artisans to working with tourists and ultimately, earning income for their families.

Apart from the good practice story write-up, the competition requires a compliance with the 15 basic sustainability principles. Alay has successfully met the sustainability requirements and compliance with the standards with support of the Bai Alai and GreenTour projects. GreenTour is funded by the European Union's SWITCH-Asia program. The main objective of this project is to boost the transformation of Kyrgyzstan towards a green economy by enhancing the sustainability and competitiveness of tourism as a key sector.

Alay District of Kyrgyzstan has won a place among the 2022 Green Destinations Top 100 Stories in recognition of its efforts towards responsible tourism and distinctive appeal.

Alay is the first destination from Central Asia, the Commonwealth of Independent States, and the Russian-speaking countries in general to get this recognition and award.