Tourism

In the late 1980s, tourism played a minor role in Mongolia's foreign economic relations. About 10,000 foreign visitors came from communist, North American, and West European countries annually. Mongolia has natural, historical, and cultural sites of interest to foreign tourists, such as the Nemegt Valley's "dinosaur graveyard," the ancient city of Karakorum, and the medieval Erdene-Dzuu monastery. Hunting expeditions also are a tourist attraction. The Foreign Tourist Office, Juulchin, which was part of the Ministry of Foreign Economic Relations and Supply in 1989, handled all foreign tourists.

The Erdene-Dzuu monastery. Photo courtesy G. Berger