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The desire to discover new ways for yourself, to learn and to achieve high results is one of the most important components of business success. The hospitality industry is no exception. Entrepreneur Allambergenova Lola Bekbergenovna from the city of Nukus (Republic of Karakalpakstan, Uzbekistan) has grown from an absolute beginner in tourism to an experienced owner of a family guest house of the "two star" category.

Lola Bekbergenovna was born in the city of Nukus. After graduating from secondary school, she entered the Tashkent Railway Institute, which she successfully graduated in 1989. Before working in tourism, Lola Bekbergenovna worked at Nukus Winery, where she held a managerial position. Her husband also worked here in the plant.

“Before I started working in the tourism industry, I worked as an assistant director at a winery in Nukus. My husband also held a managerial position in this plant. At that time, we often had to travel to different countries and cities for work. On business trips we have seen many different cultures, sights and hotels. What impressed us the most was the warm hospitality and the local traditions. Such hospitality and warmth encouraged me and my husband to try tourism ourselves and open our own family guest house”, - said Lola Bekbergenovna.

Lola Bekbergenovna and her husband understood that in order to start a business in a completely new field for them, they needed a lot of new information and study the tourism industry from scratch. It was necessary to take into account the legal framework, the guidelines for the provision of accommodation and catering services, issues of organizing the work of a family guest house, management, marketing, etc.

They also understood that every business has its pros and cons. But the most important thing that Lola Bekbergenovna and her family decided for themselves was not to be afraid to take the first step and go towards their goal.

“Our main goal was to provide quality services to tourists. We wanted to show our hospitality, our warm welcome and our culture. And of course we strived to achieve a high level of service. We had no experience in this field, but despite this we tried very hard, studied a lot of information about the tourism industry, consulted with tourism specialists and attended training seminars”, -says the owner of the family guest house.

On June 21, 2021, the family guest house "CARAVAN" started its activities in the town of Nukus. The family guest house was named after the Great Silk Road. The "Great Silk Road" is a famous caravan route, a transcontinental route that stretched over 10,000 kilometers and connected the countries of the East with the Mediterranean Sea. The Great Silk Road began in the 2nd century BC. to function and was in use until the 15th century AD. Caravans passed through the Ferghana Valley, the Tashkent oasis to Samarkand and further through the ancient cities of Uzbekistan to the Caspian Sea coast. After opening the family guest house, Lola Bekbergenovna began to actively promote her company on booking platforms such as Booking and Planet of Hotels. This action contributed to the increase in the number of foreign tourists who want to visit the "CARAVAN" family guest house in the Republic of Karakalpakstan.

In December 2022, Lola Bekbergenovna learned about the project "Classification of family guest houses – as an effective tool for attracting tourists" through the info channel of the Association of Private Tourism Agencies of Uzbekistan (APTA), which APTA is carrying out within the USAID's Future Growth Initiative (FGI) Project. As part of a training session of the project, Lola Bekbergenovna learned a lot of useful information for the further development of her company, in particular about classification in tourism, new tools for customer acquisition and increasing competitiveness.

In May 2023, the family guest house became one of the participants in the family guest house classification pilot project, also implemented by APTA under the USAID's Future Growth Initiative (FGI) Project. According to the results of the classification, the family guest house "CARAVAN" was awarded the category "two star".

But Lola Bekbergenovna does not stop at this achievement. As an entrepreneur, she has broader goals for developing her business. As the flow of tourists into the country grows, Lola Bekbergenovna plans to build a multi-storey hotel in the center of Nukus.