From Thailand and Bali to Japan and South Korea, most travellers heading to Asia tend to stick to the same big-name destinations, often overlooking some of the continent’s most breathtaking and culturally rich nations. Yet, beyond the well-trodden tourist trails like Japan’s Arashiyama Bamboo Grove in Kyoto, lie vast landscapes, ancient traditions and dramatic scenery that see only a fraction of the visitors.
One such country is Mongolia, a land of sweeping untouched grasslands, mountain ranges and even one of the world’s largest deserts, which is now aiming to significantly boost its tourism industry by 2030. Often called the “Land of the Blue Sky,” Mongolia is sandwiched between Russia and China. The second-largest landlocked country, after Kazakhstan, it boasts over 260 sunny days a year, despite being home to the world’s coldest capital city.
According to Mongolia’s tourism minister earlier this year, the industry could comprise 10% of the country’s GDP if it is able to attract two million annual tourists by the start of the next decade.
“We have a big, ambitious kind of goal, which is about 2 million tourists by 2030, which will be around a $4 billion contribution towards our GDP,” said Nomin Chinbat, Mongolia’s minister of culture, sports, tourism and youth, adding that currently tourism makes up 3-4%.
Mongolia welcomed a record-breaking 808,000 foreigners in 2024, and interest continues to rise, especially among those seeking nature, adventure, culture and spiritual tourism, Ms Chinbat added, according to CNBC Travel.
“Year on year, growth has been around 9%. We’re wishing to increase it to 16%.”
Mongolia’s landscape is defined by three distinct zones. The first is the Gobi Desert, the fifth-largest desert in the world, famous for its “Singing Sands” and as a primary site for dinosaur fossil discoveries. The steppe, meanwhile, with its endless rolling grasslands, supports the country’s massive livestock population of some 29.4 million sheep, 24.6 million goats, 4.8 million horses, 547 million cattle and 473,900 camels.
Finally, the Altai and Khangai ranges in the west and north offer rugged terrain, home to the elusive snow leopard and the rare Przewalski’s horse, the world’s last truly wild horse.
Mongolian life is deeply rooted in the tradition of nomadic pastoralism. Even today, roughly 25 to 40% of the population lives in Gers, traditional felt tents.
Not all of Mongolia is rural, however. Its capital, Ulaanbaatar, is home to around 1.76 million people and is widely recognised as the world’s coldest capital city, thanks to its extreme continental climate, high elevation at around 4,430 feet above sea level. Winter temperatures frequently drop below -25C and sometimes even to -50C.
This story originally appeared on Express.co.uk
