Nazira, an experienced CBT host, has been working in Arslanbob hospitality for 21 years, receiving guests from around the world. Nazira seesherself as a pioneer, being one of the first CBT women among three Arslanbob guesthouses, a field which has now grown to almost 20 CBT houses in Arslanbob: “Everyone wants to do CBT now,” she says. In the early days of CBT hosting, everything was new and unfamiliar to her. She even remembers her first tourist, a 22-year-old student from Belgium who stayed for two nights. With time and experience, she has increasingly grown accustomed to interacting with tourists, “we got to know their customs, they got to know ours”.
The CBT training programme seminars brought technical skills development for women in Arslanbob, such as the basics of hospitality management, which included ‘big-city’ Bishkek food specialists showing them tourist-friendly cooking and food presentation techniques to promote the experiential aspect of hospitality. However, the profound changes Nazira described have to do with how CBT transformed the relatively conservative community of Arslanbob, notably challenging traditional gender roles, promoting greater equality for women. She explains, “the women’s work in CBT has influenced their husbands. Now when tourists come, the women’s husbands will cook, set the table and serve guests tea and food. Unlike the more conservative families, we sit with our tourists and have conversations with them about our customs.” Nazira’s independence is evident in her autonomous earnings management, “my late husband didn’t take the money. If he needed it, I would give it to him”. She uses her earnings to buy what she wants for her house, “I'm a woman and I want my house to look beautiful, so I buy beautiful things.”
Nazira also supports her children and grandchildren with the money she earns. She helped with her daughter’s wedding expenses, proudly describing the contents of the dowry chest she prepared for her, “I've done so much. It's all from me”. The CBT experience has also enhanced family ties and quality of life in Nazira’s household. For instance, once tourists left after our interview, her granddaughter exclaimed, “turistter kettibi (did tourists go)? Let's have ice cream!" The family now looks forward to quality time after a hard day’s work, which has become a post-departure ritual.
Nazira is an inspiration to other people in her village. People living in Arslanbob now perceive those who run guesthouses to be wealthy: ‘they think that tourists come and pay with dollars. I always say ‘yes, I have a lot of dollars!’.” Nazira’s playful spirit comes from the confidence she has gained and her pride in the way that her CBT work has shaped a positive image of her; one of strength and influence among her family and community.