28
The main tourism destinations in Almaty discussed at the forum #WeAlmaty
On January 24, Almaty hosted the 7th #WeAlmaty Project Forum on «Identity and The Tourism Brand of Almaty.» The event was organized by the mayor of Almaty, the Almaty City Development Center (ACDC), and the Visit Almaty Tourist Information Center.
At the forum, representatives of the Mayor's Office, Visit Almaty, Kazakh Tourism, entrepreneurs and city activists discussed the achievements and prospects of tourism development in Almaty, the tourism brand and the role of the city in the development of the State Tourism Development Program.
One of the promising sources of income of the economy of any city and country is the development of inbound and domestic tourism, which today creates every tenth workplace in the world. In 2019, Kazakhstan will for the first time developed the State Program for the Development of Tourism until 2023. The main indicator of the program will be an increase in the share of tourism relative to GDP up to 8%.
Today, Almaty accounts for a fifth of all visits to Kazakhstan, including domestic visits, of which 40% are foreign tourists. The number of tourists to Almaty for 2018 increased by 11% compared to the data a year earlier. The largest flow of tourists is the Russian and Chinese markets.
According to Aslan Konyrkhanov, head of the promotion department of the Almaty City Tourism and External Relations Department, there are four focus markets in Almaty that are being worked on: Russia, China, Iran and India. In 2018, the Office of Tourism Development has invested about 1 billion tenge, including the development of tourism infrastructure, the promotion of tourism potential in Almaty and support of human resources. Trainings were held on the organization of the meeting and the service of tourists for airport staff, taxi service and station services.
«In 2017-2018. in order to promote tourism to Almaty, we have collaborated with the BBC, Euronews, the largest tourism website TripAdvisor. They participated in 7 tourist exhibitions - ITB Berlin, ITB Asia, ibtmworld in Barcelona, WTM in London and Mitt in Moscow. In addition, in the focus countries, we presented the city's tourist product, conducted information tours for the largest foreign tour operators,» Aslan Konyrkhanov said.
In Almaty, comprehensive work is underway to develop infrastructure and remove barriers in the tourism industry. Today, the city has 139 parks, 19 theaters, cafes and restaurants more than 2,000, 20 museums, 265 hotels, hostels, 14 exhibition centers and galleries. Under the «City for People» program, 60% of the historical center has been modernized. Eight information kiosks were created: at the airport, at railway stations, at the intersection of Abaya Ave., Dostyk Ave, on the Panfilova street, etc. Was created map Almaty Pass, buying which tourist will be able to use public transport, visit the sights of the city of Almaty. Work continues on the installation of all the sights of the city of QR codes, downloading the application tourist can listen to the story about the object without a guide.
According to A. Konyrkhanov, it is planned to implement a number of projects - the museum «Boraldai Sak mounds,» the reconstruction of the Ascension Cathedral, the creation of the ethnocultural complex «Etnoland«, the memorial complex Rayymbek Batyr. Within the framework of the «Etnoland» complex, a center will be created, where domestic and foreign tourists will be able to learn about the thousand-year history of Almaty, learn about culture and identity. Also on the basis of the center will be held large events.
The second area in which work is being done is ecotourism: around Almaty there are 5 national parks, which are unique places for tourists: they can visit the deserts, climb the seven-thousandth Khan Tengri, visit Charynsky Canyon and Kolasai Lakes.
In addition, there are many business events in Almaty on the topic of business tourism. As noted by A. Konyrkhanov, business tourism now occupies the largest share of the tourist flow. Almaty hosts 50 major international events every year. Event and sports tourism are also developing. Major sporting and cultural events are held, such as the Almaty Marathon and the Dala Rukhy ethnofestival, which are visited by many foreign tourists.
In her turn, the head of the Center for Urbanism of the ADC Natalia Livinskaya noted that foreign experts perceive Almaty as the cultural capital of Central Asia: «Now the Center for Development of the City of Almaty together with the Institute of UrbanGeneralization is forming the concept of the city's Master Plan. International experts involved in this work first note that Almaty is the cultural capital of Central Asia. Indeed, the highlight of Almaty lies in our culture, mentality, roots.»
At the end of the event, a working group was set up to promote the Almaty brand at The Visit Almaty. The working group included representatives of the city administration, tourist associations, private tourism companies and city activists.
