How does Kazakhstan attract foreign tourists?

The head of state Nursultan Nazarbayev pays special attention to the development of tourism in Kazakhstan. Tourism has become one of the 6 drivers of national economy diversifying in the framework of Modernization 3.0. And under the Prime Minister of the Republic of Kazakhstan has been created a Project Office. This year, under the auspices of the Ministry of Culture and Sports of the Republic of Kazakhstan, a series of international exhibitions were held in Japan (JATA-2018), Paris (IFTM Top Resa-2018), Italy (TTG Rimini-2018), Singapore (ITB Asia-2018) and China (CHINA-ASEAN EXPO-2018). The participation of Kazakhstan tourism industry at these exhibitions, as well as at the exhibition in Singapore "ITB Asia 2018" has a positive response - since the mailboxes of tour operators, who took part at exhibitions, already overfull with requests for tours to Kazakhstan in 2019-2020. Proceeding from a huge number of requests we already expect an increase in tourist flow to Kazakhstan. At our stand, the guests had the opportunity to taste national food, tried on Kazakh dress and took pictures with our "Batyrs". The international tourist exhibition “ITB - ASIA” in 2018 celebrated the 11-th opening. Thanks to the Ministry of Culture and Sports of the Republic of Kazakhstan, as well as all round support of the Embassy of the Republic of Kazakhstan in Singapore, our visitors could touch Kazakh culture, talk with its representatives and ask questions about our country. And the representatives of the tourism industry of Singapore had the opportunity to hold meetings in b2b format with the Kazakh side. Also, Kazakhstan Stand was visited by Russian trade representative in Singapore, Alexey Dakhnovsky. He noted that the participation of Kazakhstan at the exhibition “ITB - ASIA 2018” is a significant success and a breakthrough in the development of tourism industry. “Arkan Tartu” and “Asyk atu” – the interesting traditional games - were held for the guests of the stand. The guests were offered to pick up puzzles from pictures of Kazakhstan’s sights, to publish photos with artists in social networks, and more. Active participants were awarded by certificates for tours, accommodation, memorable prizes and souvenirs. Participation at international tourism exhibitions is one of the important directions in the promotion of the tourist product. Participation at ITB Asia-2018 was not an exception, the potential is simply enormous. And all of this will give a powerful image promotion and a colossal multiplicative effect for the development of tourism in Kazakhstan. Our expectations are the best. For reference: The citizens from 64 politically stable and developed countries have the right for visa-free entry to Kazakhstan with tourist and other purposes. Until the end of 2018, a 72-hour visa-free transit regime was introduced for citizens of China and India, traveling through the cities of Almaty and Astana. As a result, the transit flow from China through Kazakhstan increased by 60%, more than 17 thousand foreigners visited the cities. For promotion of cross-border travel routes the mechanism of mutual recognition of visas in the framework of “The Silk Way Visa” is being discussed with Uzbekistan. Tourism has taken an important place in Kazakhstan’s multilateral diplomacy. Thanks to the personal participation of the Head of State, only this year the summits of the Caspian Five, Shanghai Cooperation Organization in Qingdao and the Turkic Council in Cholpon-Ata ended their work with a top-level agreement on the formation of a joint tourist route in the Caspian Sea region along the Great Silk Way.