About 3.9 million people visited Kazakhstan in the first half of 2024, highlighting the country's growing popularity among foreign visitors, reports Zakon.kz.
According to data from Russia's FSB Border Service, 1.235 million of these trips were made by Russians. This data reflects significant interest from Russian citizens in Kazakhstan: Russians visited the country twice as often as, for example, the UAE or Thailand.
In the ranking of Russian travelers' preferences, Kazakhstan ranks only behind Turkey and Abkhazia, which hold the leading positions with 2.522 million and 2.163 million trips, respectively.
Interestingly, during the same period, only 1.8 million foreign tourists visited Russia, making Kazakhstan one of the leading travel destinations in the post-Soviet space.
Although not all Russians crossing the border are tourists (some trips may be related to business or personal visits), the fact remains that Kazakhstan is becoming a major attraction for visitors from Russia.
Kazakhstan in comparison to neighbors
Despite impressive growth, last year Kazakhstan lagged behind Uzbekistan in terms of the number of pure tourists: Uzbekistan was visited by 6.6 million people, placing the country 35th in the world tourism rankings.
Unfortunately, Kazakhstan did not make it onto this list. However, in terms of the total number of foreign nationals entering the country, Kazakhstan ranks second only to Russia. In 2023, 12 million foreign nationals arrived in Russia, mainly from CIS countries, while Kazakhstan received 9.3 million.
Economic impact of tourism
Tourism is becoming an increasingly important source of income for Kazakhstan. In the first six months of 2024, the country's budget was boosted by 121.3 billion tenge ($253 million) thanks to travelers staying in hotels, hostels, and other accommodations.
This is 22.9% more compared to the same period in 2023. Total tourist spending on services, transport, and entertainment exceeded 1 trillion tenge in 2023, equivalent to $2.3 billion.
The increase in tourist traffic is contributing to employment growth in this sector. Currently, about half a million people are employed in tourism, and by 2029, the Ministry of Culture and Sports of Kazakhstan plans to increase this figure to 800,000, demonstrating the sector's importance to the country's economy.
CentralasianLIGHT.org
October 10, 2024