Gulshan Ortikova
Tersak village
The heroine of our new success story is Gulshan Ortikova,
a young entrepreneur, age of 30. Gulshan lives in the picturesque village of
Tersak, Samarkand region.
Since her early youth, Gulshan was fond of foreign
languages and always dreamed of telling visiting guests about the history of
her region. The youthful dreams of a young rural girl were destined to come
true. After graduating from the university in Samarkand, Gulshan began working
as a guide. Thanks to her new profession, she met her soulmate, her husband by
a happy coincidence also works in the tourism sector. And the main initiator of
their activities was their father-in-law, who offered to open his own family
guest house. All said and done, in 2018, the guest house "Tersak Montel
Travel" opened its doors for the first time.
The whole family is involved in the family tourism
business today: the husband is engaged in meeting and transporting tourists,
women create a home comfort, brothers conduct sightseeing tours. During the
work of the guest house, 10 new jobs were opened here. Today, the guest house
of the Ortikovs is able to accommodate up to 12 people. On average, from 200 to
300 people stay at the guest house during one year. Of course, the pandemic has
made its own adjustments, which affected the number of tourists, but Gulshan
does not despair and improves its capabilities.
Participation in training seminars organized by the
Association of Private Tourism Organizations (APTA) with the support of the
USAID Future Growth Initiative Project for Gulshan gave a great impetus to the
development of family business in new conditions. How to open your own guest
house during the pandemic, how to attract tourists coming to the village, how
to meet, how to surprise and how to find your niche in the rural tourism industry
– these and other useful knowledge have found their place in their interesting
business.
The tourist season in the village opens in March and
lasts until the end of October. The guest house of the Ortikovs is located near
the Amankutan pass. Here, for tourists, the owners of “Tersak Montel Travel”
offer sightseeing tours through the picturesque mountainous area to the most
beautiful waterfall, see rare animals listed in the Red Book, conduct master
classes on cooking local dishes: kazan kabob, dimlama, kazan patyr, samsa, etc.
The Ortikov family does not forget about education.
Thanks to the established business, they were recently able to open a private
kindergarten.
When asked what is the secret of success in the family
business, Gulshan immediately answers: "In unity and understanding of
common goals." Such concepts as "teamwork",
"friendship" - have become integral postulates in the Ortykov family
and have found a worthy reflection in their common cause.
The success story was developed by the Association of
Private Tourism Organizations of Uzbekistan (APTA) with the support of the
USAID Future Growth Initiative Project.
This publication was made possible thanks to the help
of the American people, provided through the US Agency for International
Development (USAID). APTA is responsible for the content of the publication,
which does not necessarily reflect the position of USAID or the US Government.
