Kazakhstan wants to attract about 10 million tourists this year

9.2 million tourists visited Kazakhstan at the end of 2023, which is almost twice as much as the previous year.

Chairman of the Board of JSC NC Kazakh Tourism Kairat Sadvakasov said that this year the number of tourists is expected to increase.

— In 2023, 9.2 million tourists arrived in Kazakhstan. This is a record number of incoming tourism for the entire period of the country’s independence. We were very far behind; there was a big gap between outbound and inbound tourism. This figure has now been reduced to a million. That is, a little more than 10 million people travel here, and 9.2 million tourists arrived last year,” he said, answering questions from our agency during the international exhibition KITF.

The speaker noted that this year an influx of tourists from China, the Middle East, Russia, Uzbekistan, and Kyrgyzstan is expected.

“I hope that this year we will get closer to the 10 million mark,” added Kairat Sadvakasov.

The agreement on a visa-free regime between Kazakhstan and China also played a big role in attracting tourists from the Middle Kingdom, says the head of Kazakh Tourism. According to him, this practice will continue in the future. Now the list of visa-free countries for Kazakhstanis has expanded to 82 states.

— Our visa-free regime will expand, today there are 82 countries, but the President has given instructions to increase the list to 100 countries. I think that together with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs we will reach 100 countries by the end of 2025, this is, in principle, enough. And the rest will receive an electronic visa,” he noted.

The head of the national company also shared plans to attract tourists to Kazakhstan.

— In March of this year, the opening of the Year of Kazakhstani Tourism in China took place in Beijing. Therefore, we place great emphasis on China. This October there will be an exhibition in Beijing, we will take our bloggers there, several regions will also travel with their own roadshow events. In addition, next month in Dubai we will participate in the largest tourism exhibition in the Middle East - Arabian Travel Market.

Thanks to this exhibition, we annually increase awareness of Kazakhstan in the Middle Eastern market. We work closely with Kazakh bloggers and journalists. We are going to organize information tours. We will launch advertising through Google, Yandex, YouTube, and also enter the Chinese markets using their social networks Weibo, WeChat and so on.

In addition, this year we organized a world championship among journalists in alpine skiing in Shymbulak, attracting 150 journalists from different countries. Next year we will bring the American community of travel journalists The Society of American Travel Writers. Somewhere we expect 200 people. Their articles will be published in world publications. We also plan to invite various travel agencies from India and Great Britain. We fill out our calendar two years in advance. This year we also want to hold a small test conference in Baikonur, and next year we want to organize thematic conferences and invite guests,” he said.

In total, last year, hotels in Kazakhstan earned about 210 billion tenge from tourists, and since the introduction of the Bed Tax tourist tax throughout the country, they have collected about 500 million tenge. But last year they decided to abolish the Bed tax in Kazakhstan.

— We did this tax in order to increase the influx of tourists, and use the collected money for promotion. But the mechanism with the tax was a little flawed, so now this measure has been temporarily suspended, but perhaps we will return to this issue later. Today at the KITF exhibition we learned that our direct competitors have budgets that are tens of times larger. Therefore, we must attract more tourists. Now the burden on our budget is quite strong. Floods, natural disasters occur, and in addition, the social sphere requires a lot of finance, therefore, in order not to burden the state budget, we need to attract extra-budgetary funds for the development of tourism. This is already a world practice. Now, in parallel, we are providing other ways to attract extra-budgetary funds,” Kairat Sadvakasov emphasized.

A foreign tourist, according to him, spends an average of $1,000 on one trip to Kazakhstan. They mostly come for a week and try to visit many of the country’s attractions - mainly Almaty, Astana and the outskirts of the Almaty region.

— Domestic tourism is also developing here. The number of domestic tourists in Kazakhstan has reached 7.5 million. These are the people who stayed in hotels, visited national parks and other attractions. This does not count those who go to relatives, to a wedding, and so on. And if you take all this into account, the figure will reach 10 million,” noted the head of the national company.

Director of the tour operator for domestic and inbound tourism SkyWay Asem Kozbagarova said that foreign tourists most often come to Almaty, Almaty and East Kazakhstan regions, Astana, Burabay, Shymkent, Turkestan, Aktau. They are interested in mountains, ethno-villages, and cultural events.

— Did the earthquakes in Almaty and floods in many regions affect the flow of tourists? Our partners and tourists asked about this, they also read in the news. But the main tourist locations were not affected by the floods. Therefore, we had no refusals; everyone who had already planned their trips in advance came. We even see demand increasing this year,” she said.

According to her, this year an increase in foreign tourists is expected by 20-30%. The holding of the fifth World Nomad Games in Astana may also contribute to this.

— Tourists mainly come to us from China, India, East Asia, Arab countries, Bahrain, Malaysia, and recently a direct flight to Kuala Lumpur opened. We see that demand is increasing,” Asem Kozbagarova emphasized.

Asem Kozbagarova also answered how much cheaper it is for foreigners in Kazakhstan.

— For tourists, Kazakhstan is more associated as an expensive destination. If we compare Kazakhstan with the countries of the Caucasus, then we are more expensive, if we compare with Europe, then we are cheaper. On average, tourists spend from three to seven days with us. They visit different places, according to my observations, tourists from India are more budget-conscious, and the Chinese prefer shopping, and accordingly, they spend more. Arab tourists also spend a lot as they stay longer. We can say that every foreign tourist spends on average from 100-150 dollars per day. Also, many tourists who come to us prefer to visit all the countries of Central Asia at once. After all, we are connected by the Great Silk Road. That’s why foreigners visit Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and Kyrgyzstan,” the speaker added.

Chairman of the corporate fund “Touristik Kamkor” Inna Rey believes that Kazakhstan’s tourism, despite the geopolitical situations in the world and natural disasters, remains stable.

— The tourism market has always been turbulent. Everything is changing very quickly. All the disasters that occur in the world affect tourism. But I can say that Kazakhstan’s tourism is quite stable. Our tour operators guarantee their responsibility; the vast majority of them have been on the market for a long time. Despite various difficulties, they persevered and continue to work, she noted.

The expert also explained why Kazakhstan is attractive to foreigners.

— This is largely due to the fact that our tourism is sustainable; we do not have such large-scale natural disasters. The visa-free regime with many countries also plays an important role. A visa-free regime with China is a gift for us, I think, since everyone is fighting for the Chinese tourist. I think that the flow of tourists this year will continue to grow, because we are also increasing the number of flights and destinations,” concluded Inna Rey.

https://www.inform.kz/ru/kazahstan-hochet-privlech-okolo-10-mln-turistov-v-etom-godu-7197e2