Borovoe resort in Kazakhstan to become cultural venue

Borovoe resort in Kazakhstan will become a venue for festivals and cultural events, Tengrinews correspondent reports citing Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Industry and New Technologies Asset Issekeshev. 

During a governmental meeting in the lower chamber of the Parliament, the Majilis, Issekeshev spoke about Borovoe and prospects of the tourism industry in Kazakhstan in general: “We have developed 50 tourist products as part of the comprehensive plan: winter and autumn sports, family sports, and health programs. Secondly, we are planning to develop a series of events: organize festivals there [in Borovoe], hold rallies and meetings, so that there is a constant presence of tourists there, not just in summer, but in autumn and in winter as well. Besides all else this will help lower the prices, and make investing into development of Borovoe more feasible."

During the session, Kazakhstani MPs repeatedly complained about the costliness of holidays in Kazakhstan. "Local tourism remains unattractive. Why? Because of the image it gets from its quality and prices. People have to spend dozens of thousand of tenge just to book a room for a couple of days [in a resort are]. Imagine, 70,000 tenge ($380) for a couple of nights, literally. They just cannot afford to stay longer…," said a deputy of the Majilis Gulmira Isinbayeva and inquired as to the measures that were being taken to improve the quality and regulate prices.

"The main problem with Borovoe is its short season. 2-3 months is not enough for tour operators to evenly distribute their operations [and revenues] throughout the entire year," Issekeshev said. He promised that the Majilis will soon receive a detailed action plan of improvement of the tourism industry.

According to the Ministry, the number of tourists visiting Borovoe in the past five years has increased more than three-fold. It forecasts that in 2020 1 million people will visit the Shchuchinsk-Borovoye resort zone, which is among the most popular recreation areas in Kazakhstan.

Reporting by Assel Satayev, writing by Dinara Urazova, editing by Tatyana Kuzmina