Kazakhstan Emerges Alongside Leading Tourism Markets as Almaty and Astana Recast the Travel Economy

Kazakhstan is developing two distinct tourism engines as Almaty expands mountain infrastructure and Astana deepens event-led travel. The country received 15.7 million foreign visitors in 2025, up 3.1% year on year, according to national statistics. Almaty recorded 1.87 million visitors during the first nine months of 2025, including 563,000 foreign travellers. Astana, meanwhile, welcomed 1.6 million tourists during 2025, including more than 380,000 international visitors. The investment picture is equally striking. Almaty reported 198.8 billion tenge in tourism-related investment, while Astana recorded 438.3 billion tenge in tourism fixed-capital investment. Together, the cities illustrate two different routes into Kazakhstan’s growing international travel economy.

Two Cities, Two Tourism Engines

Kazakhstan’s tourism expansion is increasingly being shaped by the contrasting strengths of its largest tourism gateways. Almaty is using its proximity to the Trans-Ili Alatau to build a broader mountain economy, while Astana is leveraging its status as the national capital, business centre and events destination.

The distinction matters because visitor growth alone does not explain tourism’s economic impact. The underlying infrastructure determines how long visitors stay, what they spend and how widely that spending circulates. A skier can generate expenditure across accommodation, equipment, transport and restaurants. A conference delegate can activate hotels, venues, restaurants, taxis, airlines and business services within a short urban radius.

The national picture provides a useful backdrop. Kazakhstan recorded 15.7 million foreign visitors in 2025, while the first quarter of 2026 brought another three million foreign travellers. Uzbekistan supplied 1.1 million visitors during that quarter, followed by Kyrgyzstan with 723,500 and Russia with 564,700.

That source-market pattern also reveals an important distinction. Kazakhstan’s tourism economy remains heavily connected to regional travel, yet Almaty and Astana are simultaneously trying to deepen their reach into longer-haul and higher-value markets.

Almaty Builds Around Its Mountains

Almaty’s strategy centres on converting a powerful natural advantage into a more complete tourism product. The city sits close to the mountains, while Shymbulak, Medeu and surrounding landscapes already form a recognisable international travel circuit.

The demand signal is particularly clear among foreign visitors. Mastercard data cited by Almaty’s tourism authorities showed Shymbulak accounted for 30.62% of foreign visitors’ location interest between January and November 2025. Big Almaty Lake followed at 7.84%, Medeu at 6.24%, while Charyn Canyon and Kolsai Lake each recorded 4.35% among the listed attractions.

That hierarchy matters because it demonstrates that mountain tourism is not merely an investment proposition. It is already a major component of the city’s international visitor experience.

Almaty is now trying to expand that demand beyond a handful of famous locations. In 2025, the city completed improvements to the 775-metre Alma-Arasan thermal spring, upgraded a recreational area near Furmanov Peak and improved 10 mountain routes covering about 100 kilometres. Three camping zones with solar charging facilities were also established.

The strategy is therefore broader than ski tourism. Hiking, camping, wellness, scenic travel and summer recreation can help transform a winter-focused destination into a four-season mountain economy.

Investment Is Moving Beyond Ski Slopes

The scale of Almaty’s wider tourism investment reinforces that transition. Official city data put tourism fixed-capital investment at 171.6 billion tenge during the first 11 months of 2025, an 84.7% increase from the comparable period. Separately, the city reported total tourism-sector investment of 198.8 billion tenge for 2025, up 39.4%.

Tourism services generated 110.9 billion tenge in 2025, representing 15.2% annual growth. Tourism-related tax revenues reached 84 billion tenge, up 27.2%, indicating that the sector’s economic footprint extends well beyond hotels.

The investment mix is revealing. Spending flowed into intercity rail, passenger transport, air transport, accommodation, food services, entertainment and car rental. That creates a broader visitor economy around the destination rather than concentrating activity inside resorts alone.

Almaty also added 46 tourism facilities through private investment during 2025. These included 18 hotels, 21 hostels, a glamping property and other accommodation and recreation facilities, together adding 871 rooms.

For travellers, the implication is significant. More accommodation outside conventional luxury hotels can widen the price range and lengthen the stay potential around the mountain gateway.

The Mountain Cluster Enters A New Phase

The next stage is more ambitious. Kazakhstan is implementing a 2025–2029 comprehensive plan for the Almaty Mountain Cluster, covering tourism, transport and engineering infrastructure.

The Almaty Superski project has also moved from preparation towards practical implementation. Kazakhstan’s Baiterek holding said in June 2026 that international companies had been selected for cableway construction, structural design and related works.

Another major development involves Oi-Qaragai. Kazakhstan approved an investment agreement covering its development between 2025 and 2028, with plans for year-round mountain recreation and expanded ski, tourism and service infrastructure. The project includes new cableway and access infrastructure.

The government’s support framework also directly favours mountain infrastructure. Businesses can receive reimbursement for 25% of eligible ski-resort equipment and machinery costs, including lifts, snowmaking systems and snow-grooming equipment. Tourism facilities can also qualify for partial reimbursement of construction and reconstruction expenses.

The policy is important because it reduces some of the capital burden associated with building mountain infrastructure. However, the long-term test will remain visitor demand, environmental management and the ability to operate successfully across several seasons.

Astana Turns Events Into Tourism Infrastructure

Astana follows a markedly different path. The capital is building its tourism proposition around events, business travel, conferences, exhibitions, culture and urban experiences.

The city recorded 1,604,825 visitors in 2025, a 7% increase from 2024. Of those, 380,301 were foreign visitors and 1,224,524 were domestic travellers. Official city data show that 69% travelled for leisure, events or shopping, while 31% travelled for business.

The source-market profile is also becoming more international. Russia, China, Türkiye, Germany and the United States were among the principal markets. Chinese visitor numbers rose 28%, while Russian arrivals increased 15%, according to Astana’s tourism authorities.

The city has also reported a growing calendar of major events. More than 300 events formed part of its tourism programme, strengthening the role of conferences, exhibitions, concerts, festivals and other gatherings in generating visitor demand.

That creates a different demand cycle from Almaty’s mountain model. Astana does not need snowfall to attract a conference delegate. Instead, its tourism machine can respond to corporate calendars, exhibitions, international forums and cultural programming.

Astana’s Investment Numbers Tell A Different Story

The investment figures make the contrast even clearer. Astana attracted 438.3 billion tenge in tourism fixed-capital investment during 2025, the highest regional figure reported by Kazakhstan’s tourism authorities. During January-May 2026, the city recorded another 250 billion tenge, twice the figure for the comparable period.

Accommodation services reached 74 billion tenge in 2025, increasing 14%. At the same time, average tourist spending was reported at approximately 118,000 tenge per day.

These figures suggest why MICE and event tourism can be economically attractive. A visitor attending a conference may spend across hotels, restaurants, transport, venue services and leisure activities. Furthermore, business visitors can create demand during periods when conventional leisure travel is weaker.

Astana is also developing medical tourism alongside business and event travel. City officials say the capital currently has more than 100 tourist facilities, with additional hotels and leisure properties planned.

The Numbers Reveal Different Strengths

The available data do not support a simple contest between the two cities. Instead, they show different tourism structures and investment priorities.

The comparison requires caution because the Almaty visitor figure covers nine months, while Astana’s figure covers the full year. Investment definitions also differ between some city datasets. These numbers should therefore be read as indicators of scale and direction, not as a direct league table.

Travel Demand Is Becoming More Diverse

The two models also serve different traveller motivations. Almaty can bundle a city break with skiing, hiking, mountain scenery, wellness and regional excursions. Astana can combine architecture, museums, exhibitions, concerts, business meetings and major events.

That diversity matters for international travel planning. A visitor may now construct a Kazakhstan itinerary around both cities rather than choosing between them.

Domestic travel data reinforce that possibility. In 2025, Kazakh households recorded 10.27 million domestic tourism trips. Astana accounted for 10.1% of domestic destinations in the cited dataset, while Almaty accounted for 9.9%.

This creates a substantial home-market foundation. International tourism can then add higher-spending demand without making the destinations entirely dependent on overseas visitors.

Infrastructure Could Become The Real Test

Growth creates a less glamorous problem: capacity.

Almaty’s mountain infrastructure is already experiencing pressure. In 2025, Ile-Alatau National Park recorded around 901,000 visitors, while Shymbulak received approximately 1.1 million visitors. Weekend and holiday demand can reach 15,000 visitors per day, according to the city administration.

The proposed connection between Shymbulak and Oi-Qaragai is partly designed to address this pressure by distributing demand across a wider mountain cluster. The authorities estimate that the wider project could eventually support up to one million foreign visitors and contribute about 300 billion tenge annually to the city economy. Those figures are projections, not achieved results.

Airport capacity is another part of the equation. Almaty has begun an airport modernisation project involving approximately US$362 million in investment, with planned passenger capacity reaching 19 million. The city is also developing 25 hotel and tourism projects providing 3,664 rooms.

For travellers, that infrastructure matters as much as the attractions themselves. Better airport capacity, mountain access and accommodation can reduce bottlenecks while making multi-day itineraries more practical.

Kazakhstan Is Building A Broader Tourism System

The most revealing development is that neither model exists in isolation. Kazakhstan’s national tourism policy supports inbound tour operators with a 15,000-tenge subsidy per qualifying foreign visitor, subject to conditions including a minimum stay and registration through the e-Qonaq system.

The government also provides support for tourism vehicles, roadside services and tourism-facility construction. These measures are designed to improve the supply side of tourism rather than simply stimulate visitor demand.

That distinction is crucial. Tourism competitiveness depends on the entire chain. International flights bring visitors into the country, but hotels retain them. Attractions encourage spending, while transport determines how much of the country they can realistically explore.

Almaty therefore functions increasingly as a nature-and-experience gateway, while Astana operates as an events-and-business gateway. Their development could ultimately strengthen the same national tourism network.

What Travellers Should Watch Next

For travellers, the changes are likely to appear gradually rather than through one dramatic transformation. Almaty’s mountain expansion should create more trails, accommodation and year-round recreation, while Astana’s event economy should increase the number of reasons to visit outside traditional leisure periods.

The practical difference is already visible. Travellers seeking outdoor experiences can build Almaty itineraries around Shymbulak, Medeu, mountain routes and nearby natural attractions. Visitors travelling for conferences or cultural events can use Astana’s expanding hotel and event infrastructure as an urban base.

However, travellers should also watch peak periods. Mountain destinations can experience intense weekend congestion, while large conferences and international events can tighten hotel availability in capital cities.

The strongest future proposition may therefore be combining the two cities. A Kazakhstan itinerary that pairs Astana’s urban calendar with Almaty’s mountain landscape offers two distinct tourism products within one national journey.

A New Central Asian Tourism Blueprint

Kazakhstan’s emerging tourism economy is becoming more sophisticated because it is no longer relying on one destination type. Almaty is expanding from a city with nearby ski attractions into a wider mountain cluster. Astana is developing from a political capital into a more diversified events, business and leisure destination.

The numbers show genuine momentum. Kazakhstan recorded 15.7 million foreign visitors in 2025, while both cities attracted substantial investment and expanding visitor flows. Yet the more important story lies beneath those totals: the country is building different mechanisms for converting visitors into sustained tourism expenditure.

The next phase will depend on capacity, connectivity, environmental stewardship and service quality. If those elements develop alongside demand, Almaty’s mountains and Astana’s event economy can become complementary gateways rather than competing destinations. That would give Kazakhstan a more resilient tourism proposition, capable of attracting leisure, adventure, business and event travellers across different seasons.