-    To generate income to improve the standard of living of CBT members.
-    To preserve the environment, customs and traditions of the Kyrgyz people.
-    To create a sustainable organization among tourism service providers to promote tourism in Kochkor village.

   In 2002, we became Public Unit “CBT Travel,” and in the beginning of 2003 we joined the Kyrgyz Community Based Tourism Association, a nationwide organization with 11 members.

    CBT Kochkor has 30 members: guest house providers, guest yurt providers, drivers, and guides.  Including non-members that we also work with (such as yurts that are members of our partner organization Shepherd’s Life, or musicians in our folklore group), we work with about 300 people per season.

     In pursuit of our second goal, we sponsor annual clean-ups of jailoos.  In 2008, these were very successful, though no statistics were kept.  We also have been running a Tourism Information Office, since  2003, which visitors in just the past week have called “very helpful” and “the best office in Kyrgyzstan” (from Customer Feedback Forms).
    Plans for the future include strengthening our partnerships with tour operators.  There are more then 300  tour operators based in Bishkek, but we work with only 20 of them at present.  We are also building up an insurance fund to cover horse accidents, working to improve the quality of our yurts, and seeking funding for expanded ecological projects, including a large-scale cleanup of Song-Kul.