Ecotourism, a type of holiday involving responsible traveling without harming the environment, is rapidly developing in Kazakhstan. As noted by experts, the sector is growing globally at a rate of around 30 percent a year, being one of the fastest growing sectors of the world economy. Ecotourism in Kazakhstan offers numerous different routes, including in national parks. The arrangement of specially protected natural areas in the country is carried out in cooperation with the United Nations Development Program. The opening of the renewed route took place in the well-known Sairam-Ugam national natural park. More than 68,000 people visited this place in 2022, and over 64,500 since the beginning of this year.
“This route is equipped with an observation deck, information boards and stands providing not only route information and rules of conduct for tourists, but also interesting and exciting legends, which attract numerous travelers from various countries, as well as local tourists. The pilot areas include the Kolsai Kolderi, Katon-Karagai, and Sairam-Ugam national parks. An eco-tourism strategy and concept for the arrangement of special tour routes have been recently developed for these national natural parks. This year we have completed the work on the arrangement of three tourist routes in these three national parks,” said Meruyert Sarsembayeva, Biodiversity Portfolio Coordinator at the UNDP in Kazakhstan.
It is worth noting that there are 14 national parks in Kazakhstan. Around two million tourists visited them in 2022, according to the Kazakh Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources.
