The Comprehensive Program for the Development of Tourism to 2020 is developed in Almaty

During the meeting the governor of Almaty noted that today tourism forms 10% of world GDP and this trend continues to grow, therefore tourism is defined in the development program of Almaty 2020 as a new driver of growth and a priority sector of the city's economy.

"Already today every second foreign visitor of Kazakhstan visits Almaty, however the share of tourism in the GRP of the city is still insignificant and is only 1.5%. The analysis of tourism development in 10 competing and other countries identified a number of advantages of Almaty, which can become drivers of tourism growth. Among them is the millennial history of the city on the Great Silk Road, the presence of UNESCO World Heritage Sites, the well-developed infrastructure of the city and the proximity of almost a pristine nature. Almaty is capable of becoming the tourist capital of Central Asia," B.Baibek said.

By the way, the analysis of the competitiveness of the Almaty tour product in 25 country and city ratings showed that Kazakhstan and Almaty are confident in the 22 ratings.

So, in the rating of brand recognition of the country according to Bloom Consulting we are on 98 place from 193 countries. In the ranking of Doing Business in the 36th place out of 190, according to the cost and quality of life Mercer - 178 place from 400 countries. This means that along with affordable cost of living, there are favorable regulatory environment and conditions for doing business.

According to the participants of the Business Council, the development of tourism in Almaty today is also positively influenced by the work on creating a comfortable urban environment and promoting the city as an attractive tourist destination through sports, ethno-cultural, medical and event tourism.

At the same time, there are a number of issues that need to be addressed, including at the central level. Among them, the need to improve the system of tourism statistics, improve the availability of airfares and expand direct routes, optimize the procedure for obtaining visas, etc. A number of other issues were also voiced. For example, despite the fact that places of budget accommodation are becoming more popular, the legislation does not have such a concept as a hostel, which prevents further development of this direction. Today, the number of hostels in the last year in Almaty has doubled, from 60 to 120.

Following the meeting of the Business Council, the governor of the megapolis instructed the relevant departments to take into account all the issues raised and proposals during the development of the Comprehensive Tourism Development Program in Almaty until 2020.