ABSTRACT
Introduction Restoring the independence of the Central Asian (CA) countries unlocked the door of the ancient Silk Road to the world as a tourism product. Central Asia’s mysterious and magnicent “novel” formed through the centuries has started to open its pages and be read. The CA region has participated in the world tourism market not only as individual states but also as a whole with, what is for much of the world, its new, unique and exotic destinations. The CA region, the core of the Asian continent, has played the critical role of connecting East and West throughout history. The Silk Road that had started to develop in Roman times has created extraordinary heritage and tourism attractions for world tourism markets. The Silk Road project, initiated in 1991 and covering 28 countries across Asia to the Middle East and Europe, provides a crucial opportunity to promote and market their tourism products and services. Central Asia, in particular, has had a special role in this project (Kantarci et al. 2014; Kantarci & Develioglu 2013).
