According to experts, tourism occupies 10% of world GDP, 6% of world exports and 30% of world exports of services. Every 11th workplace in the world today is created precisely in the tourism industry.

In Kazakhstan, the contribution of tourism to GDP is still quite small, but in recent years there has been a steady upward trend. So, back in 2015 Kazakhstan among the 141 countries of the world took the 85th place in the rating of the Economic Forum on competitiveness in tourism and travel, but today this figure is much higher.

In general, for six months the share of tourism in the GDP of Kazakhstan amounted to 1.6% or 346,568 million tenge. According to the results of the first half of the year, the number of foreign (incoming tourism) visitors increased by 20.4% compared to the same period of the last year. Domestic tourism also showed an increase in comparison with the same period last year by 7.5%.

At the same time there is an increase in the number of visitors for outbound tourism by 3.6% compared to the same period of the previous year.

In 2016, 6.5 million people visited Kazakhstan, of which about 90% are from the CIS countries. The average time spent in the country does not exceed four days. As for guests from far abroad, there were 573.7 thousand of them. Domestic tourism made 4.6 million visits with an increase of 11.8%.

In the summer, the Expo-2017 became the place of tourists’ attraction. With its account in the capital, the number of rooms and hosts, ready to receive the guests of the capital, has increased by 43.8% to 8.96 thousand since the beginning of 2017. In addition, Astana has become one of the three leaders in the growth of hotels and other placements: + 28.2%, to 209.

In the first half of 2017, the number of employed in the industry was 314.8 thousand people, with an increase of 1.5%. In recent years, the number of employed in the tourism industry has shown constant growth.

The development of the tourism industry directly depends on the creation of a modern competitive tourist complex, including the necessary infrastructure, the reconstruction of the checkpoints through the state border of the Republic of Kazakhstan (automobile, aviation, railway, engineering and communication, "soft" infrastructure), providing wide opportunities to meet the needs of Kazakhstani and foreign citizens in tourist services.

The creation of the tourist complex will also make a significant contribution to the development of the country's economy through tax revenues to the budget, the inflow of foreign currency, the increase in the number of jobs, and will ensure control over the conservation and rational use of cultural and natural heritage.

State support of tourism is a necessary condition for sustainable development of the industry. International experience shows that the active policy of the state aimed at creating conditions for the development of the tourist infrastructure, attracting private investors, the formation of a regulatory legal framework that provides favorable economic conditions for the activities of tourism industry entities, allow the tourism industry to take an important place in the country's socio-economic development. Also, world experience shows that countries actively developing tourism, allocate significant budgetary funds for the implementation of national projects and programs, providing its citizens with quality tourist services.

At the same time, the development of tourism requires the solution of many related tasks, for example, modernization of the transport system, development of the public catering system, improvement of the country's image, development of the information infrastructure.

That is why the Government attaches great importance to the sphere of tourism development. According to the "World Council of Travel and Tourism", Kazakhstan entered the Top-10 countries, which in 2016 achieved the best success in the tourism and tourism industry.

The focus is on cultural tourism clusters

According to the approved Concept of the development of the tourist industry until 2023, six cultural and tourist clusters will be created in Kazakhstan:

"Astana is the heart of Eurasia"

"Almaty is a free cultural zone of Kazakhstan"

“Pearl of Altai”,

"Revival of the Great Silk Road"

“The Caspian Gates"

"Unity of Nature and Nomadic Culture".

What do they mean?

"Astana is the heart of Eurasia" is a tourist cluster based on the city of Astana. The main tourist products that will be developed in this cluster are MICE-tourism and short-term rest.

Of the main directions of tourism, the most relevant and promising for the capital are congress, business, event and ethno-tourism (cultural and sports events, events, conferences, forums, etc.).

"Almaty is a free cultural zone of Kazakhstan" is a cluster that includes the city of Almaty and part of the Almaty region, which identifies 12 key tourist attractions. Among them are such well-known objects as the archaeological petroglyphs of Tamgaly (UNESCO site); State national natural park "Altyn-Emel", included in the preliminary list of UNESCO; Charyn Canyon in the territory of the Charyn SNGP; Lake Balkhash (south-eastern part); Lake Alakol (southern part); the Kapchagay reservoir; international tourist center "Akbulak"; ski areas near the city of Almaty with the Ile-Alatau SNGP included in the preliminary list of UNESCO; Zhongar-Alatau SNGP and others.

In future, the cluster can expand and include other parts of the Almaty region, as well as represent new places of tourist interest - the Zhetysu Alatau mountain chain with the Eshkiolmes petroglyphs included in the UNESCO preliminary list, as well as the Issyk kurgans. Almaty will become the center of international business and ski tourism and will be positioned as a cluster "Entertainment in the city and in the mountains". The main tourist products that this cluster will represent include MICE-tourism, cultural and ecological tourism, recreation in the mountains and lakes, short-term rest.

"Pearl of Altai" includes the northern and eastern parts of the East Kazakhstan region. The city of Ust-Kamenogorsk will be the center of the cluster, in which eight key tourist attractions are identified: the Berel Mounds; the reservoir of Bukhtarma; the Ertis River - Lake Zaisan; Katon-Karagay SNNP; the city of Semey and Abai district (Zhidebay) and others. The cluster may expand in future, including the remaining parts of the East Kazakhstan region.

Cluster "Pearl of Altai" will be positioned as "World of Natural Wonders" and will be the center of development of ecological tourism. The main tourist products that will be developed in this cluster include active and adventure tourism, recreation in the mountains and lakes, gastronomic tourism and others.

The "Revival of the Great Silk Road" is a cluster that includes the central and eastern parts of the Kyzylorda region, the south-eastern and north-western parts of the SKR and the south-western part of the Zhambyl region. Key tourist attractions:

1) the modern city of Turkestan;

2) the mausoleum of Khoja Ahmed Yasawi (UNESCO site);

3) archaeological sites of the medieval town of Otrar and Otrar oasis, included in the UNESCO preliminary list;

4) the archaeological complex Sauran;

5) Karatau State Nature Reserve with Paleolithic sites and geomorphology; Petroglyphs Arpa-Uzen, included in the preliminary list of UNESCO;

6) Sayram-Ugam SNNP;

7) Aksu-Zhabagli State Nature Reserve;

8) the Baikonur complex;

9) Kaskasu mountain resort;

10) the cities of Kyzylorda, Saryagash, Shardara, Taraz.

The central object of the cluster will be the city of Turkestan, which positions itself as a spiritual, historical and cultural and tourist center of Kazakhstan at the level of recognized international pilgrimage and tourism centers. The cluster "Revival of the Great Silk Road" will be positioned as "The Heart of the Great Silk Road". The main tourist products that will be developed in this cluster include spiritual, historical and cultural tourism.

As part of the implementation of the international transport corridor "Western Europe - Western China", a modern tourist infrastructure will be created to accommodate, rest and obtain the necessary tourist services, linked to unique tourism destinations in the regions and appropriate conditions on the western and eastern "border gates" of the republic.

“The Caspian Gate” is a cluster that includes the entire Mangistau region and parts of the West Kazakhstan and Atyrau regions. The city of Aktau will be the center of this cluster, in which the following key tourist attractions are located, including the underground mosques of Beket-Ata, Shopan-Ata and Karaman-Ata, the mausoleum of Omar and Tours; Mount Sherkala; "Karakia" – Karakol State Nature Reserve; a complex of monuments Bokei Orda; Saraishyk ancient settlement; resort area Kenderli.

The main tourist products that will be developed in this cluster include beach, historical, industrial, cultural tourism and tour.

"Unity of nature and nomadic culture" includes the Akmola and Karaganda regions, the south-western part of the North-Kazakhstan and the western part of the Pavlodar region. The Shchuchinsk-Borovoe resort zone will be the center of the cluster. In the future, the cluster can be supplemented with new places of tourist interest included in the UNESCO preliminary list: megalithic mausoleums of Begazy-Dandybay and Tasmola cultures.

The cluster will become the center of nomadic culture and the diversity of the steppe. The main tourist products that will be developed in this cluster are cultural tourism and tours, rest in the mountains and lakes, short-term and active recreation.

According to the Plan of the Nation

It should be specially emphasized that the sphere of development of the tourist industry in Kazakhstan is constantly under the close attention of the Head of State. Today the work of the Government in this direction is built according to the Plan of the Nation "100 Concrete Steps", as well as the instructions of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

Thus, Step 57 of the Plan of the Nation envisaged the attraction of strategic (anchor) investors having successful experience in creating tourist clusters.

For the period from 2015-2016 about 300 billion tenge was invested in the tourist industry, about 5,000 new jobs were created. The one-time capacity of accommodation in the country is increased by 31,000 beds (2014 - 109 thousand, 2017 - 140 thousand).

In 2017, three projects with the participation of strategic investors are in the process of implementation, three more projects involving anchor investors are under consideration. At the local level, projects are implemented in four tourist clusters (beach and health tourism on Lake Alakol, Bayanaul, Balkhash, in the Shchuchinsk-Borovoe resort zone).

In Step 86 the Head of State instructed to develop and implement a large-scale APK project "The Big Country - a Large Family", which will strengthen Kazakhstan's identity and create conditions for the formation of an integral civil community. It is expected that all this work will be connected with the implementation of the Concept of the development of the tourist industry of the Republic of Kazakhstan until 2020 (taking into account the development of domestic tourism) and with the creation of regional cultural and tourist clusters: "Astana is the heart of Eurasia", "Almaty is a free cultural zone of Kazakhstan" "Unity of nature and nomadic culture", "Pearl of Altai", "Revival of the Great Silk Road", "Caspian Gates".

On June 30, 2017, by the Decree of the Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan No. 406, an updated Concept for the development of the tourist industry until 2023 was adopted. At present, based on the proposals of central state and local executive bodies, the Action Plan for the implementation of the above Concept for 2017-2019 (Stage I) has been prepared.

Also, for the effective development of the industry and the activities of domestic tour operators, the introduction of uniform norms and standards of services, NC Kazakh Tourism JSC was established.

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