STUDY OF THE IMPACT OF UNESCO HERITAGE SITES ON SUSTAINABLE TOURISM DEVELOPMENT: A CASE STUDY OF THE MAUSOLEUM OF KHOJA AHMED YASAWI, TURKESTAN

Abstract

Globally, cultural heritage tourism (CHT) is an effective way to achieve economic benefits by preserving and sharing a city's heritage and culture with visitors. Therefore, it is very important to study the impact of historical and cultural heritage sites on the sustainable development of local tourism. The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of the Khoja Ahmed Yasawi Mausoleum, a UNESCO heritage site in Kazakhstan, on sustainable tourism development in Turkestan. The study was based on a survey aimed at identifying the goals of tourists (respondents) visiting Turkestan city, the main objects they would like to see as a tourist destination, and their opportunities for sustainable development of urban tourism. The questionnaire responses were analysed based on the coding of respondents (R1-R328) who were randomly selected. As a result, 40.8% of respondents from near and far abroad (47) and Kazakhstan (281) found that the purpose of the visit was historical and cultural tourism. 78.7% of respondents assessed the tourism potential of the Mausoleum of Khoja Ahmed Yasawi as high in terms of sustainable tourism development in Turkestan. Thus, being one of the most famous architectural monuments of Central Asia and an example of modern Kazakh architecture, the mausoleum of Khoja Ahmed Yasawi is a cultural and historical object that affects the sustainable development of tourism in Turkestan. This study will help to solve the problems of sustainable tourism development in Turkestan.