Over-commercialization Hurts the Prospects of Sustainable Tourism

One of Uzbekistan's most evocative sights is Registan, a trio of 14th century madrasas that are famed for their beautiful blue tile work and geometric decorations. As Uzbekistan open up to foreign tourists, it is becoming the major draw to the city of Samarkand, a major Silk Road city frequently mentioned in Western classics on the topic of Central Asia. And sure enough, on a Saturday, the complex is full of tourists from across Asia, Europe, and America getting a firsthand look at the famed destination.

But there is something extremely unsettling about the tourist experience at Registan.

A madrasa is first and foremost an Islamic educational institution, where historically, students spent lengthy periods of time living in the school to absorb themselves in the process of learning. The trio at Registan reflect this, with well-preserved rooms for students lining the sides of the buildings. Despite the medrasas no longer being active, the very fact that these student rooms are available shows the size of the population in their heyday.

Because the students rooms are no longer being used, they have become exploited by crafty entrepreneurs to put in souvenir shops that sell to all the tourists that stream through the medrasas. In fact, nearly all of the student rooms at the bottom floor of the three medrasas are now occupied by shopkeepers selling souvenirs. But the shops sell nearly identical products, shopkeepers gets into regular shouting matches and try to drag tourists into their shops for a sale.

It goes without saying how damaging overzealous shopkeepers is to tourists in Registan. It is difficult to simply take in the sights and enjoy the surroundings when one has to constantly fight off shopkeepers shouting at you about cheap prices and high qualities. And because the salespeople are ubiquitous in every corner of Registan, the process of touring the medrasas quickly become very tiresome and annoying for the tourists. The souvenir shops becomes a very negative experience for what should be a highly enjoyable sight.

And this is not even looking at the symbolic aspect. Medrasas are places that holy scriptures are taught and those dedicated to learning resided. To so blatantly commercialize the institutions for the sake of quick profiteering from foreign tourists is, in its own way, a desecration of the holy nature of the medrasas. A working medrasa is a solemn, serious place. A former medrasa that has become a highly trafficked site, while unable to keep up the same seriousness, should at least retain some gravitas as a display of respect toward its educational past.

Of course, this is not saying that commercialization is bad. Tourism, after all, is able making money and having locals benefit from tourist income. But there should be a limit to the commercialization, in order to ensure the sustainability of that tourist traffic. It is easy to exploit tourists for quick gains in the short-term, but that will only kill the prospect for attracting more tourists in the long-term. Tourists have plenty of destinations they can choose from. If they think they did not enjoy the experience of one place, they will recommend their friends to go elsewhere.

What Registan has become today should be taken as a warning to other places that place too much emphasis on making money however they can. Tourists are a fickle bunch. A Hotspot today can quickly be abandoned en masse in a matter of few years. So when locals interact with tourists, they should never assume that they will keep coming simply because there is a great sight to see. Tourists want good experiences and memories when traveling, and beautiful sights are only one part of the whole scenario making up the good memory.

It is understandable that entrepreneurs are given the chances to work within tourist sites as a means to spread wealth of the tourists quickly. But it is more beneficial for the government to step in and regulate just how many people and where they can sell by hassling tourists so openly. If, for instance, one specialist shop for each product can be set up in designated locations outside the medrasas, there would not be a race to the bottom for prices quoted by the shop owners, and the medrasas themselves will not be full of unsightly shops. The tourists can pea fully enjoy the sights, shops can be more profitable, and the historical institutions are respected. Such is a win-win-win solution.