The country needs to develop domestic and inbound tourism

Issues of the program "Recommended by EXPO" and the development of ecological tourism in Kazakhstan were discussed at the working meeting of the Committee of the tourism industry of the Presidium of the National Chamber of Entrepreneurs of Kazakhstan "Atameken".

The agenda also includes issues of EXPO 2017, the development of domestic tourism and development of projects of eco-tourism in Kazakhstan.

The meeting was attended by Deputy Chairman of NCE RK "Atameken" Yuliya Yakupbaeva, Advisor to the Chairman of the Board of JSC NC "Astana EXPO-2017", Chairman of the Committee of the tourism industry of the Presidium of NCE RK "Atameken" Rosa Asanbaeva, Acting Chairman of the Committee of Forestry and Fauna of the Ministry of Agriculture Kayrat Ustemirov, representatives of the Presidential Administration of the Republic of Kazakhstan, members of the tourism industry and representatives of the tourism business of Kazakhstan.

For the first time at the site of NCE RK "Atameken" representatives of JSC NC "Astana EXPO-2017" showed a presentation of the upcoming exhibition on the theme: "Engaging visitors at the International specialized exhibition EXPO-2017".

During the presentation, advisor to the chairman of the Board of JSC NC "Astana EXPO-2017" Rosa Asanbaeva told about the enormous prospects that opened for the Kazakh tour operators during the exhibition, what benefits will get tour operators that have become official partners of the exhibition. In particular, it is planned to hold 20 free info-tours, provision of platforms of foreign embassies for the Road Show, information about their tours will be placed on international resources, such as Trip Advisor, Booking.com. "In general, we expect about five million domestic and foreign visitors. 85% of visitors from Kazakhstan and 15% foreign nationals, of which about 55% are foreign tourists from Russia and the CIS, 19% - China, 13% - the Eurasian Union, 10% - Turkey, 5% - India and other countries. So enough work for all ", - said Asanbaeva. She has also announced, what requirements are needed to enter the number of tour operators under the program “Recommended by Expo”. However, she noted that there were certain problems, such as insufficient number of professionally trained tour guides and interpreters to serve the large number of visitors and tourists.

The presenter of the report on ecological tourism, the Acting Chairman of the Committee of Forestry and Fauna of the Ministry of Agriculture of Kazakhstan Kayrat Ustemirov said that "meetings with the business community are planned, at which national parks, in order to attract investors, will present land plots exposed for competition to be used for construction of tourism and recreation. Following the meetings, the National Parks will held competitive procedures and conclude agreements. Visitor centers are opened at the National Parks based on the experience of Austria, Czech Republic and America. Ustemirov identified major issues that accompany the management of tourism activities in national parks: poor infrastructure (roads and lack of electricity, lack of financial opportunities for installation of electronic checkpoints instead of barriers). To solve these problems, in addition to state support it is necessary to introduce appropriate amendments to the Budget Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

Yuliya Yakupbaeva noted that NCE is ready to provide support in terms of legislative initiatives and proposed to national parks, in order to promote their tourism resources, to be active in social networks, blogs, and in pilot projects on tourism. Director of the Foundation "Protection of Lakes", a member of the Committee of the tourism industry NCE RK "Atameken" Marina Matveeva sounded problematic issue of the pollution of the lake Maybalyk. "More than 300 thousand tons of waste from a nearby poultry farms fall into the lake each year. The situation is on the brink of ecological crisis. Due to the constant smell in the surrounding areas, it is impossible to meet the tourist groups and to develop land for the construction of tourist facilities", - she said. To address this issue, it was decided to organize a meeting with the participation of state bodies and interested parties.

President of the Metropolitan Association of Tourism Rysty Karabaeva presented a report on domestic tourism, speaking about the mechanisms of development of business in the tourist industry of Kazakhstan. The results of the industry survey conducted by the Association of the capital, with full analysis of the current situation in the domestic tourism market of Kazakhstan in terms of administrative barriers caused heated debate among the representatives of the tourist market. The full study is scheduled for presentation at the next meeting of the Committee of the tourism industry NCE RK "Atameken".

Dauren Valiev, director of the international mountaineering camp "Khan Tengri", believes that it is necessary to update the Strategy of development of tourism of Kazakhstan in connection with the situation in the republic. He agreed with the opinion of Asel Nurkebaeva, the president of the Association of tourist agencies of Kazakhstan, that Kazakhstan doesn’t have a brand recognition, in contrast to other countries. "We need to develop inbound tourism. We propose to increase the list of countries with visa-free entry to our country up to 44, as in Kyrgyzstan ", - said D. Valiev.

Summing up the meeting, the Deputy Chairman of the Board of NCE noted that "this is the first meeting this year, a large number of issues was accumulated".

"We all heard. In the future, all problems will be systematized and included in the Committee's work plan for 2016", - concluded Yuliya Yakupbaeva.