SPACES project supports Tea Road Festival in Khovd

Society
lebuyana@gmail.com
2022-10-06 16:31:08

Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/. From 24. September to 2. October 2022, the German-Mongolian cooperation project SPACES (Supporting Protected Areas for the Conservation of Ecosystem Services) which is implemented by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH in cooperation with the Mongolian Ministry of Environment and Tourism (MET) supported Khovd’s 3rd Tea Road Festival with a variety of activities.


An all-women group of 26 members of Community Groups active in tourism and craft production, a three-day wool craft training, held at the Polytechnic School in Khovd. They learned about quality-increasing techniques of washing and carding the raw wool and how to make miniature camel soft toys. SPACES staff Mieke Kuiters and Soninbolor Tuguldur gave a presentation on the basics of souvenir production as an income-generating opportunity. Topics covered: knowing who your customers are, what they like to purchase, where they will do their purchases, the use of ethnicity and regional biodiversity as inspiration for souvenirs, the financial side of craft production (costs of raw material, time investment, and selling prices) as well as labeling and environmentally friendly packaging. This presentation was repeated for 10 women from Durgun soum who participated in a 2-day training (October 1-2) on spinning and knitting of camel wool.


During the Tea Road activities in the aimag center on September 27 and 28, SPACES provided the community groups with the opportunity to sell their products to the visitors of the festival.


To support the development of the Tea Road Festival as an event that is widely recognized by professional Tour Operators, SPACES facilitated a study by the National University of Mongolia on the economic potential of the Tea Road Festival for local herders who are involved in the festival. The research approach was presented during a research conference organized by the Khovd University on September 28. The final report is expected to provide valuable input for the improvement of the Tea Road Festival in the coming years.

Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit