19 September 2024 | 08:07

Kazakhstan reports record tourist influx

©️ Tengrinews.kz

Tengrinews.kz - Kazakhstan has welcomed over half a million tourists in just two weeks, according to the Ministry of Tourism and Sport.

This surge occurred due to major events held in the country throughout September, highlighted by the tourism industry committee. From September 1 to 13, 2024, a total of 597,000 foreign tourists visited Kazakhstan. Of these, 68,000 arrived through the international airports in Astana and Almaty, while the remainder traveled via other modes of transportation, including rail and road.

Key events that attracted foreign visitors included the V World Nomad Games and a concert by Dimash Kudaibergen, drawing attention from guests across 89 countries.

Notably, the main countries of origin for these tourists, aside from neighboring countries, included China, India, Turkey, Germany, and the USA. For instance, more than 33,000 visitors arrived from China, over 6,000 from India, more than 4,000 from Germany, and around 2,000 from the USA. These figures indicate a growing interest in Kazakhstan as a travel destination, stated Deputy Minister of Tourism and Sports Yerzhan Yerkinbayev.

Significant numbers of tourists also came from South Korea, Azerbaijan, Mongolia, and the UK.

The eQonaq system recorded approximately 12,400 foreign tourists registered in Astana within a week, with their total spending on accommodation, transportation, food, and entertainment reaching $15.5 million (7.5 billion tenge). The average expenditure per tourist from distant countries was $1,500. Participants in the World Nomad Games reportedly contributed an additional $625,000 to the economy.

Popular tourist sites in the capital saw a substantial influx of visitors. For example, from September 7 to 13, the National Museum of Kazakhstan welcomed over 14,000 guests, while the "Astana-Baiterek" monument attracted around 15,000 tourists, and the "Nūr-Alem" pavilion saw about 10,000 visitors.

More than 250,000 people attended competitions as part of the V World Nomad Games and visited the ethnopark.

Earlier, President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev had expressed skepticism regarding the tourism statistics for Kazakhstan, labeling them as self-deception. He pointed out that the UNWTO defines a tourist as anyone who stays in a country for one or more nights, stating, "We are deceiving ourselves. Why? Soon we will count business travelers as tourists too," he remarked during a meeting on June 14.

tourism tourist Kazakhstan ministry of tourism and sport world nomad games Kudaibergen Dimash

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