The ministry notes that this demonstrates the growing interest in Kazakhstan. It is worth noting that the country is already seeing an influx of tourists from India and Germany. Foreign travelers prefer to visit the resorts of the Akmola, Almaty, Mangystau, Turkistan, and Abai regions. It should be mentioned that the country implements the Tax Free world practice, which enables value added tax refunds for foreign tourists. Also, Kazakhstan has expanded the list of countries with visa-free entry.
“The number of tourist arrivals to the country has sharply increased, particularly tourists from Iran, thanks to the visa-free regime introduced following the official visit of the Head of State to Iran. This is great news that 300 tourists from Iran visited the Mangystau region, in particular the city of Aktau, on the threshold of Nauryz holiday this year. I would like to mention that the number of tourist arrivals from China has also grown. The inflow of foreign tourists from Russia, Iran, Turkey, and Central Asian countries has significantly increased as well,” said Askhat Oralov, Kazakh Minister of Culture and Sports.
It bears noting that the number of domestic travelers in Kazakhstan reached 8.6 million people, which is nearly two million more compared to the pre-pandemic period.
“Our objective is to bring the number of domestic tourists to 11 million people in accordance with the ministry’s concept for the development of tourism for seven years until 2029. As compared with the pre-pandemic period, the number was slightly more than six million people. Now the task is to almost double it, making domestic tourism affordable and of high quality,” added Oralov.
It is noteworthy that Kazakhstan aims to rank at least 50th in the World Economic Forum’s Travel and Tourism Development Index by 2029.
