Tourism sees upturn in Kazakhstan

«The Head of State tasked the Ministry to turn the tourism sphere into the driver of economic development, for which there are all the necessary resources such as recreational, environmental, investment and human. As known, due to the epidemiological situation and quarantine restrictions, the inbound tourism indicators dropped significantly. However, after the quarantine was eased there have been improvements in a number of indicators, including domestic tourism. So, in the nine months of 2021 domestic tourists numbered 5.2mln, 100 thousand people more than in 2019,» said Abayev.

According to him, last year saw most tourists in national parks, with the number rising by 300 thousand compared with 2019 and stood at 1.5mln. In particular, there were great increases in visits to the national parks of the Almaty mountain cluster such as Ile Alatau (from 212 to 430 thousand), Kolsay (from 83 to 160 thousand), and Charyn.

«This once again proves the efficiency of attracting investors in the national parks who realize their projects with no harm to nature. Also, there has been a rise in accommodation services. Thus, in the 9 months of last year, there was a 66% rise than in the same period of 2020. Accommodation places with a total capacity of over nine thousand were added by 182. These can service around 200 thousand stays,» said the minister.