The budget of local governments
has been replenished by 314 million tenge due to tourist fees from foreigners
since the start of this year. According to the press service of the Kazakh
Ministry of Culture and Sports, the city of Almaty holds a leading position in
terms of contributions, accounting for 86 percent of the total amount or over
270 million tenge, and is followed by Astana, the country’s capital, with more
than 37 million of tourist fees. The so-called ‘bed tax’ is levied on foreign
visitors in Kazakhstan for each day of their stay in hotels since the beginning
of the year. The accumulated funds go to the budgets of local executive bodies
and are allocated for the development of tourism, improvement of territories
and implementation of measures to promote tourism opportunities. This practice is
already applied in more than 50 countries of the world, and thus, it will not
be a novelty for foreign travelers, the Ministry notes.
