Kazakhstan doubles the previous year’s tourist number

Saturday, April 6, 2024

In 2023, Kazakhstan hosted more than 9 million foreign tourists, double that of the previous year.

According to the Bureau of National Statistics, guests mainly hailed from from Germany, Great Britain, China and South Korea and the key factors cited for the growth were a post-pandemic rebound in global tourism coupled with Kazakhstan’s cancellation of tourist fees.

However, experts have warned that for the industry to continue to develop and thrive, Kazakh authorities must strive to improve both the infrastructure and promotion of tourism.

As illustrated by statistical data, over the course of 2023, hotels and hostels in Kazakhstan accommodated some 8 million people.

Of the million visitors from abroad, half came to Kazakhstan for business, and half for leisure. Among them, the majority were citizens of Russia, India, the U.S., Germany, South Korea and the UK.

The country received over 16,000 visitors from the UAE, and from Italy, almost 15,000. Notably, the introduction in November 2023, of a visa-free regime with China resulted in a two-fold increase in Chinese tourists.
 
In a related report, Tatiana Vernitskaya, executive director of the Centre for Urban Tourism Development, stated, “The geopolitical situation around Kazakhstan is shaping up in favour of our tourism.

There are now a lot of [migrants] from other countries in Kazakhstan, businesses have moved, – and European tourism has changed direction. Such changes are highly positive for Kazakhstan.”

She continued by saying, “There are states that (survive) on tourism. We have a huge potential (for expansion).

Subsidies have only been available since 2022 (but access must be facilitated) to make them work. We (also) need advertisements at trade shows (complemented) by point-to-point workshops.”

Records show that the most popular destinations for foreign visitors were the country’s two major cities.

Last year Almaty hosted more than 2 million people, and Astana, 1.3 million, providing owners of hotels, hostels and guest houses with revenue of almost $515.5 million.

By way of comparison, the number of tourists visiting Kazakhstan throughout 2023, is equal to that hosted by Thailand in the first 3 months of 2024, where local businesses earned almost $12.5 billion, equivalent to roughly one percent of Thailand’s annual gross domestic product.

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