The International Conference on “Sustainable Tourism, Pilgrimage, and Sacred Heritage. People Protecting the Monuments – The Legacy of Ahmed Yasawi” organized by the Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Governorate of Turkistan and IRCICA on 26-28 Oct. 2022 was opened in Turkistan, Kazakhstan. The Opening Ceremony was addressed by Mr. Darkhan Satybaldy, Governor of Turkistan, Prof. Dr. Mahmud Erol Kılıç, Director General of IRCICA; Mr. Temur Mirzaev, Advisor to the Minister of Tourism and Cultural Heritage, Republic of Uzbekistan; Mr. Sultan Raev, Secretary General of TURKSOY, Mr. Magnus Magnuson, Director of UNESCO Office in Almaty. The plenary session heard keynote addresses on “Historic Urban Landscapes: Tourism Development and Site Conservation”. During the press conference, IRCICA Director General underlined peoples’ spiritual attachment to sacred places across geographical distances. The themes of parallel sessions over two days are: “Peculiarities of Tourism Development at Sacral Sites and Pilgrimage Routes”; “History of Sacred Sites in Central Asia”; “Management of Cultural Heritage Sites”; “Tourism Promotion and Marketing at Sacred Sites: Best Practices and Recommendations”; “International cooperation of educational institutions in sacred tourism”; “Conservation, Restoration, Documentation of Sacred Heritage Sites”; “Spiritual Layers in the Culture of the Turkic Peoples”; “Studying of Middle Ages Manuscripts”. A workshop was held on “Developing a Management Plan for a UNESCO World Heritage Site on the Case of the Mausoleum of Khoja Ahmed Yasawi”. The multi-disciplinary conference is receiving paper contributions by specialists from Asian and European universities and international organizations, including IRCICA.
