With its reindeer sleigh rides, camel racing and stunning landscapes with room to roam, Mongolia is hoping to woo visitors who are truly looking to get away from it all. Like most countries, its tourism industry was devastated by the Covid-19 pandemic, and it has launched a “Welcome to MonGOlia” campaign to win people back. The government has added flights and streamlined the visa process, offering visa-free visits for many countries.
At least 437,000 foreign tourists visited in the first seven months of this year, up 25 per cent over the same period last year, including increasing numbers from Europe, the United States and Japan. Visitors from South Korea nearly doubled. Despite the gains, Mongolia’s government is still short of its goal of a million visitors per year from 2023 to 2025.
Its customised itineraries include horseback trips and camping excursions with the possibility of staying in gers, the felt-covered dwellings still used by Mongolia’s herders. There’s little chance of running across private property, so few places are off-limits, she said. “You don’t need to open a gate, you don’t need to have permission from anyone,” she said, sitting in front of a map of Mongolia with routes marked out with pins and strands of yarn.
“We are kind of like the last truly nomad culture on the whole planet,” she added. Still, many people know little about Mongolia. American tourist Michael John said he knew some of the history about Genghis Khan and had see.