Turkmenistan: New Tourist Resort Area Gears Up for Inaugural Season

The first batch of holiday makers to the Avaza tourism zone in Turkmenistan is expected to arrive this summer. For now, operators are remaining hopeful that the global economic crisis won't have too serious an impact on the travel and leisure industry.

The resort area is situated near Turkmenbashi, a port city on the Caspian Sea coast. The area will feature six five-star hotels, up to 7-kilometers of canals across a 750 hectare development area, and a new airport to cope with the anticipated influx of visitors.

A report distributed by the official news agency on January 29 characterized the Avaza resort as "the embodiment of Turkmenistan's policies of peace and good neighborliness, the symbol of movement on the path of renewal and progress."

Several prominent international entities, including the Russian energy concern Itera and Bouygues, a French construction, media and telecom conglomerate, are either building leisure complexes, or have secured plots in the development area.