The e-Newsletter of the Gender Network

December 2012 | Vol. 6, No. 3

Turpan women earn from cultural tourism

by Imrana Jalal1 Grape Valley and Grape Town in Turpan, Xinjiang, PRC, an original stopping point on the ancient Silk Road, automatically evoke romantic images. Lush wet greenlands are surrounded by mulberry, apricot, peach, pear, poplar, willow, elm, and locust trees. Grape Valley is known for the sweetest of grapes, white seedless grapes, "Mare's teat" grapes, rose red grapes, and preserved grapes, as well, as grape wines. The beauty of the natural surroundings and the local tourism economy present many income earning opportunities. Turpan and its surrounding areas, including the ancient sites of Jiaohe and Gaochang cities, is a popular tourism site, visited by more than 4 million tourists a year. Yet, for the largest ethnic minority group, the Uighur people of Turpan, day to day life is characterized by poverty. More than 37% of Uighur females are from families with daily incomes of less than US$2 a day, despite the significant potential of the tourism industry. The mainly Muslim ethnic minority Uighur people are descendants of the ancient Turkic tribes and are culturally similar to the peoples of Central Asia. Their unique culture and history attracts cultural tourists from all over the Peoples Republic of China. One of the complex challenges faced by the Uighur is how to package and promote their unique local culture to tourists in a credible and dignified way to earn a decent income from it, and to also protect it. Training women for cultural tourism An ADB Gender and Development Fund (GDCF) supported project has given Uighur ethnic women a fighting chance to earn a decent income from cultural and community based tourism in Grape Valley, Grape Town and Yaer Town. Putting ethnic minority women in the drivers seat in cultural tourism provides an income-earning opportunity for ethnic Uighur women through the tourism sector.

The Turpan Construction Bureau, Turpan Tourism Bureau and the Turpan Womens Federation are partnering with ADB in the The Turpan Womens Ethnic
1

Senior Gender Specialist, RSDD/RSGS, ADB with inputs from Raushan Mamatkulov and Wendy Walker of EARD.

Minority Cultural Tourism Development Project aimed to improve the management, skills and marketing capacities of 300 Uigher women through small business development, embroidery skills training and professional tourism knowledge. The project also aimed to upgrade skills in homestay visit opportunities with food and beverage training for women offering homestay visits. The female beneficiaries of the project come from families whose annual family income is between US$800-US$4,800. The GDCF project is linked to the ADB Xinjiang Urban Transport and Environmental Improvement Project, which invests in urban infrastructure to accelerate economic growth in five cities in Xinjiang, including Silk Road tourism in Turpan. Community based tourism and other businesses are located in areas served by the infrastructure. Within weeks of the projects completion, the project is already having an impact on some womens lives. I have never calculated costs and profits before, however, currently I have begun to record my income and expenses every day. Thus I know my profit well now. say Ms. Yizaitigul of Grape Valley. Yizaitigul who is engaged in a home visit business will increase her income by 100%, according to her estimation as a result of business so far this year. She was a participant in the small business development and home stay tourism visits training provided under the project. Yizaitigul says she now disinfects her plates, knows how to serve food in a hygienic way and make the food more palatable for her home visit guests, and to protect them from illness. This element of the training was intruduced as a result of complaints by tourists who wanted to experience a locally-based home visit, but were daunted by the quality and safety of the local food. She also participated in training on the fundamentals of tourism, agri-tourism, star-level evaluation standards, food sanitation, fire and security and related tourism laws. As a result of the home visit training provided under the project, 3 home visit spots have obtained a 3-star level certification and 2 home visit spots are likely to obtain 2-star level certification. Prior to the training, only 1 home spot visit out of 40 under the project had obtained a 4-star agri-tourism spot certification. From housewife to raisin entrepreneur Patigul of Grape Valley describes herself in a forthright manner, I didnt work before; I was a housewife. Now, as a result of participating in the Small Business Development Training provided under the GDCF project, she is making and selling raisins. I bought fresh grapes for the price of RMB 1.8 (about US$0.28) per kg and then made it into raisins. 5kgs of grapes can make 1 kg raisins. The price of raisins is US$3.2 per kg, so my profit is $1.8 per kg. I have already bought 10 tons of fresh grapes.

Other women, who received small business development training, are reveling in their increased profits from home stay visits and various other small enterprises. Aizigul from Yaer Town, who runs a small vehicle seat cover shop, has never calculated profit and costs before, but now she has a business plan and hopes to expand her business. Since the completion of the GDCF training she has expanded her shop. My profit has reached US$320 during May-August, she says. Embroidering a Hopeful Future Another resident of Grape Town, Reziwangul, who participated in the embroidery series training and exposure visits, says that as a result of visiting Hami, Barkol and Mulei, she has adopted their material selection methods to her original products, and is now using silk, instead of wool. She describes her new products as exquisite and has already sold a mirror drawing at $64, which she made for less than $16, thus making a 300% profit. Women have improved their embroidery skills and are using silk fabric and other materials to make their products more attractive. Combining traditional styles with modern designs is enabling them to increase their revenue and profits. Some 50 out of 100 women who received embroidery training are producing export quality products. Some had hoped to set up shops in tourism areas but had been unable to obtain seed finance. Thirty women were provided small startup business grants, and some, sewing equipment, from the GDCF project. Guliaisailihan made a large tablecloth as a result of a learning exchange visit. She adopted the embroidery skills and materials selection of Kazakh, enabling her to sell her tablecloth to a tourist from Hanan province for US$640, even before she had completed it. The material of our local embroidery is wool, while that of Kazakh is silk. The silk products are more lively and bright colored. And the stitching of Kazakh is very fine, she says. My products have already sold out. Currently I am selling products from my neighbours. My profit has already reached US$320. I am confident about my future. After the training and study tours the local government has indicated that it will provide continuing support to the women. It will establish embroidery bases and embroidery exhibition centers in famous Turpan tourism spots to exhibit the manufacturing process, and to develop a unique Turpan brand. As result of a small amount of support, training and seed finance, some 300 Uighur women of Turpan now have a more hopeful future.

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The views expressed in this paper are the views of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the Asian Development Bank (ADB), or its Board of Governors, or the governments they represent. ADB does not guarantee the accuracy of the data included in this paper and accepts no responsibility for any consequence of their use. The countries listed in this paper do not imply any view on ADB's part as to sovereignty or independent status or necessarily conform to ADB's terminology.