Automated Payment for Entry at the Environmental Checkpoint into the Big Almaty Lake (BAL)
Almaty, as one of Kazakhstan’s major tourist centers, faces challenges in managing tourist flows and collecting fees for visiting tourist sites. The current fee collection system is often outdated and inefficient, causing inconvenience for tourists, promoting financial violations, and reducing revenues from tourism activities. Opaque and slow payment processes negatively affect the overall tourist experience, reducing the city’s attractiveness as a tourist destination.
Many cities and countries have successfully implemented automation systems for managing tourist flows and collecting fees. In national parks in the USA, electronic passes can be purchased in advance through the internet or mobile apps, allowing tourists to avoid queues and delays. In Venice, an electronic payment system has been introduced for entry into the historic city center, which helps regulate tourist flow and reduce the burden on infrastructure. In Singapore, automatic terminals for payment using contactless cards and mobile payments have been installed at tourist sites, simplifying the process and increasing the transparency of financial transactions.
In Almaty, there are still tourist spots that use outdated fee collection methods, such as cash payments without issuing receipts. This creates inconvenience for tourists, leads to queues, and potential financial violations. This issue is especially relevant at popular sites like the Big Almaty Lake (BAL), as the site receives a large number of visitors, and the existing system cannot handle the load.
At the Big Almaty Lake (BAL), entry at the environmental checkpoint is accompanied by cash payment without issuing a receipt. This creates inconvenience for visitors, leads to potential corruption practices, and complicates the accounting of collected funds. The opaque payment system reduces public trust in the city administration and harms the city’s image as a tourist hub.
Currently, payment for entry to BAL is made in cash, which causes difficulties for both visitors and environmental checkpoint staff. The lack of an automated payment system leads to queues, reduces the checkpoint's operational efficiency, and leaves room for potential financial violations.
It is proposed to start a pilot project to automate the payment for entry at the environmental checkpoint into BAL, evaluate its effectiveness, and, if successful, extend this practice to other paid zones and routes in the city.
The implementation of an automated payment system at the environmental checkpoint for entry into BAL is expected to:
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Increase convenience and speed of payment for visitors.
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Eliminate the possibility of financial violations through complete transparency of transactions.
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Reduce queues and improve the throughput of the checkpoint.
