The experts have discussed the issue of creating a country tourist brand on the platform of the Atameken NCE RK.

Introducing the discussion, Deputy Chairman of the Board Yuliya Yakupbaeva noted that there are quite a lot of proposed variants of tourist brand, and the tourist community and craftsmen still have no reference point, what brand and what symbols to use in their work.

"Our strong points are not only nature and endless horizon. We need to position ourselves as a modern, ambitious state, aspiring to enter the 30 developed countries and able to attract investments. The state program of tourism development sets absolutely specific digital and monetary indicators – KZT 270 billion of tourist services and KZT 600 billion of investments by 2025. We need to understand which segment of tourists is capable of bringing much money to our country and what marketing measures should be taken to attract such tourists," Yuliya Yakupbayeva said.

Representatives of NC Kazakh Tourism JSC told about the proposed Meet Qazaqs brand project. This brand has already been used several times to decorate Kazakhstan's stand at international tourism exhibitions. 

The key messages are the matter of getting to know the main heritage of Kazakhstan. The speaker noted that the foreign tourists associate Kazakhstan with traditional values of nomadic culture.

Business representatives had doubts about the correctness of this option. For example, there were opinions that for foreigners the word "meet" will sound like "meat", and associations will be different. According to various sources, Kazakhstan is positioned as a country for hiking, horseback riding, living in yurts, off-road riding, etc.

During the discussion, various options for associations were voiced, which should call the country's tourism brand. Dauren Valiyev, Head of the Khan Tengri travel agency, suggested to be guided by our national symbols when creating a country brand: 

"A common country brand should, first of all, be pleasant for every citizen of Kazakhstan, cause pride and self-respect. All that reflects the essence of our country - the blue sky and sun (Tengri), they are already reflected in our national flag. We see that other countries used the same method. For example, Japan has a popular name among people - Land of the Rising Sun, and this is what is depicted on the flag of Japan," Dauren Valiyev said.

Another speaker, Rizvana Sadykova, a senior lecturer at KazGUU, cited obvious examples and associations that will be well received by English-speaking tourists - for example, Open Kazakhstan, a slogan that entails new discoveries and adventures. Apple - is associated, in addition to apples, with the widely-known Apple Company, Tulip - tulips, the homeland of which is Kazakhstan and mass cultivation of which is engaged in Holland.

"It is necessary to create new trends in craftsmanship to set an associative series, which will give recognition of Kazakhstan at the international level. We must have souvenir products for tourists with recognizable symbols, as well as various stickers, postcards, books, our legends, coloring with illustrations, which will be used by our children," Yuliya Yakupbaeva said. 

The participants of the meeting supported the idea that the sports teams that gather stadiums; famous personalities as Dimash, GGG and others; national cuisine and products, celebration of Nauryz; unique art objects - Astana Ballet, Astana Opera, where world-class productions are shown; museums - interactive Museum EXPO, which is already admired by tourists, National Museum; resorts - Shymbulak, Borovoye, Alakol; architectural objects designed by famous architects; hotels of world chains, etc.д., i.e. already established brands that can attract quality tourists.

We can use this potential in our country, and at the stands of international exhibitions and inform the international community about Kazakhstan.

 "When we define the country's brand, the artisans will get jobs because people are always looking for something that can be linked to our culture, traditions, everyday life to take away as a souvenir. We should have a range of souvenir products: from expensive works of art to small products - magnets, key chains, etc. Our market, unfortunately, is filled with poor quality souvenir products from neighboring countries", Aigul Zhanserikova, Head of the Craftsmen's Kazakh Oner Center, said.

Summing up, Yuliya Yakupbaeva also noted the need to create a single event calendar by region. In addition, it is necessary to prepare high-quality technical specifications for brand development and determine the composition of the commission, which will evaluate the work and choose the most successful logo.

At the end of the meeting, the participants agreed on the need to develop a joint Roadmap by Atameken and Kazakhtourism, the Roadmap should include activities on the development of the country and regional brands, development of craftsmanship in Kazakhstan.