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Tourism in Mongolia

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Tourist camp near Lake Khövsgöl

Tourism in Mongolia was extremely limited by the Socialist Government, but has been expanding following the 1990 Democratic Revolution in Mongolia in the wake of the collapse of the USSR and the Revolutions of 1989. Mongolia is a unique and relatively unexplored travel destination that offers a great combination of scenic natural features, a wide variety of untouched landscapes, nomadic life style and culture. Travel organizations in Mongolia date back to half a century ago, but the private sector-based tourism is barely twenty years old. Now Mongolia boasts 403 travel companies, 320 hotels, 647 resorts and tourist camps, all employing the graduates from over 56 educational establishments.[1] Mongolia takes an active part in United Nations World Tourism Organization, of which it is a member party.

Foreign tourist number

To boost foreign investment in tourism, the Government of Mongolia offers special tax exemption equaling up to 10 percent of the total investment if offered for construction of high-rated hotels and tourist complexes. Licenses for tourism business were abolished and service provided by tour operators for expatriate visitors is now exempt from VAT. Standards and regulations are largely non-restrictive, with no complicated layers of bureaucracy issuing permission and exercising control.

A vivid example of the successful reform of the legal framework is the progressive increase of the number of visitors – the number reaching 450,000 in 2010 - tripling the 2000 estimate.[2] With one of the world's lowest population densities, the vastness of the Mongolian-Manchurian grassland, desert, as well as the numerous mountains, rivers and lakes offer plenty of adventure. Although backpacking is becoming more common, travel outside Ulanbataar is mostly arranged by tour operator companies.

Naadam Festival

In January 2013, the Ministry of Culture, Sport and Tourism of Mongolia approved official slogan for Mongolia's tourism called “Go Nomadic, Experience Mongolia”[citation needed] which, it believes, will properly position help boost tourism industry in Mongolia. However, after a year the Ministry replaced the official slogan to new "Mongolia - Nomadic by Nature.[citation needed]

On March 5, 2014, during ITB Berlin 2014 exhibition in Germany, officials from the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Mongolia signed an agreement to become official partner country for ITB Berlin 2015.[3]

The Ministry of Culture, Sport and Tourism of Mongolia has been restructured into the Ministry of Environment, Green Development and Tourism in December, 2014 as a result of country's government cabinet change.[citation needed]

Activity travels available include trekking, climbing, bird watching, horse riding, rafting, camel riding, yak caravan and overland motorcycle tours. Many of these tours focus strongly on ecology and wildlife, and almost all of them include the Gobi Desert as one of their destinations; apart from its numerous native animal species, the desert is famous for its fossilised dinosaur bones and eggs. Mongolia's lakes represent another good hiking destination, as do the Four Holy Peaks surrounding Ulaanbaatar or the Gobi Gurvansaikhan National Park, in the Umnugobi.[2] The economy of Mongolia is expecting "unstoppable" growth as its natural resources are tapped,[4] which will enable further investment in infrastructure.

In 2023, Mongolia decided to promote tourism and allow visitors from 34 countries enter the country visa-free until the end of 2025.[5] Among the countries which citizens can enter Mongolia visa-free are all the European Union countries (except for Germany, which have already had visa-free entry to Mongolia), UK, Australia and New Zealand.[6]

Statistics

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Most visitors arriving to Mongolia on short term basis for tourism were from the following countries of nationality:

Country 7/2024 2023 2022 2021 2020 2019 2018
 Russia 117,199 213,332 153,162 12,525 29,635 141,927 129,095
 South Korea 88,891 139,512 53,382 2,312 5,060 101,279 84,184
 China 83,528 108,869 11,186 5,763 13,513 168,298 163,979
 Kazakhstan 16,140 20,537 17,555 727 1,509 16,264 16,144
 Japan 11,119 19,600 6,411 377 1,131 24,419 20,990
 United States 8,853 13,539 8,562 1,570 1,147 18,838 17,838
 Germany 5,987 9,725 3,994 511 599 12,405 10,819
 Taiwan 5,441 5,129 317 30 95 5,930 5,233
 Turkey 4,052 6,108 3,453 1,401 545 1,874 2,699
 Belarus 3,348 6,902 4,029 4,026 2,090 2,902 2,210
 France 3,293 5,677 2,863 213 305 10,572 9,773
 United Kingdom 2,186 3,319 1,578 182 302 5,931 5,905
 Australia 1,983 3,437 1,340 132 383 7,014 7,495
 Italy 1,425 2,488 1,007 174 74 3,655 3,192
 Singapore 1,211 2,160 753 29 65 3,010 2,649
 Canada 1,163 1,952 1,103 123 169 3,594 3,578
 Hong Kong 1,130 2,622 244 8 147 4,311 3,121
 India 1,086 1,929 1,041 194 184 2,478 2,298
  Switzerland 1,009 1,356 686 66 76 2,927 2,665
 Thailand 984 2,004 618 93 127 2,631 2,259
 Kyrgyzstan 914 1,515 774 107 57 727 524
 Vietnam 910 1,570 1,309 14 65 1,061 704
 Netherlands 889 1,278 792 63 86 3,613 3,777
 Malaysia 819 2,235 1,034 71 53 2,062 1,731
 Philippines 642 1,091 468 54 79 1,204 1,169
 Spain 621 1,003 419 35 48 2,080 1,969
Total 376,319 594,013 286,282 33,100 58,859 577,300 529,370
Source: Ulaanbaatar Tourism Department[7][8][9][10]

Events

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The main festival is world-famous Naadam, which has been organized for centuries and is held on July 11 to July 13 in honor of the Democratic Revolution. Naadam consists of three Mongolian traditional sports: archery, long-distance horse-racing, and Mongolian wrestling. In 2013, The Ministry of Culture, Sport and Tourism of Mongolia published Mongolia Tourism Calendar of Events 2013, in which the Ministry collected all public events related to Mongolian tourism and culture.[citation needed] Many events included in the calendar, which is also available for download online, are repeat events.

Other events include:

  • Miss Mongolia - beauty pageant to select the country's Miss World, candidate
  • Eagle festival - in Bayan-Ölgii, hunters use trained eagles to catch small prey, plus Kazakh horse games
  • Nowruz - in Ölgii, Kazakh New Years parade, concert, and feast
  • Tsagaan Sar - Lunar New Year festival held throughout Mongolia
  • Camel Festival - Mongolian winter tourism festival held in Umnugobi province. The Thousand Camel Festival in the Gobi desert introduces the tradition of camel breeding and herding. It is in Bulgan county, Umnugovi province. A local non-governmental organization aims to protect and preserve the Bactrian camel population. And they organize “The Thousand Camel Festival” in Bulgan county, South Gobi province, Mongolia. Also, the festival aims to celebrate and promote the cultural heritage of Bactrian camels and winter tourism growth in Mongolia.[citation needed]

The festival includes two types of camel races, Camel-Polo, and some other competitions related to camel breeders’ cultural heritage, such as training of untamed camels, making ropes from camel wool, and loading. And there is a folk concert by school children from the county.[citation needed]

The festival is held annually March 6–7 for two days at Bulgan county, South Gobi province, Mongolia. The festival is one of the heart touching events because of the camel training and other activities related to the camel breeding tradition. [citation needed]

Transportation

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Chinggis Khaan International Airport in Ulaanbaatar is the major international airport in the country, offering scheduled flights to and from Russia, China, South Korea, Singapore, Japan, Germany and Turkey.

The Trans-Mongolian Line of the classic and well known Trans-Siberian Railway connects Mongolia's capital Ulaanbaatar with Moscow and Vladivostok in Russia as well as Beijing, China.

  • The Trans-Mongolian Railway runs from China to Russia and connects Ulan-Ude, which is on the Trans–Baikal (Trans–Siberian) railway in Russia, with Jining in China. Some other notable stops are Sükhbaatar, Darkhan, Choir, and Zamyn-Üüd / Erenhot. Additionally, there are important branches leading to both Erdenet and Baganuur.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Ministry of Nature, Environment and Tourism, Mongolia
  2. ^ a b Mongolian travel directory [better source needed]
  3. ^ "Mongolian to participate as partner country for ITB Berlin 2015".
  4. ^ "Mongolian Wolf to Be 'Unstoppable'". Moscow Times / Reuters.
  5. ^ Wilson, Breanna (March 31, 2023). "Why 2023 is the year to visit Mongolia". cnn.com. CNN. Retrieved January 23, 2024.
  6. ^ "NATIONALS OF THE FOLLOWING COUNTRIES/REGIONS ARE EXEMPTED FROM VISA TO ENTER MONGOLIA". consul.mn. Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Mongolia. Retrieved January 23, 2024.
  7. ^ "Statistics of Tourists to Mongolia" (PDF). Нийслэлийн Аялал. Retrieved April 21, 2016.
  8. ^ "2015 Оны Жуулчны Болон Аялал Жуулчлалын Салбарын Орлогын Мэдээг Өнгөрсөн Оны Мөн Үетэй Харьцуулсан Мэдээ". February 19, 2016.
  9. ^ "2016 ОНЫ ЖИЛИЙН ЭЦСИЙН МЭДЭЭГ - 2015 ОНЫ МӨН ҮЕТЭЙ ХАРЬЦУУЛСАН МЭДЭЭ" [Final news for 2016 - News in comparison to 2015] (PDF). tourism.ub.gov.mn (in Mongolian).
  10. ^ "2017 ОНЫ ЖИЛИЙН ЭЦСИЙН МЭДЭЭГ - 2016 ОНЫ МӨН ҮЕТЭЙ ХАРЬЦУУЛСАН МЭДЭЭ" [Final news for 2017 - News in comparison to 2016] (JPG). tourism.ub.gov.mn (in Mongolian).
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