Inbound Tourism: Six Conditions for Development

Tourism in Kazakhstan

After every trip to a country with a well-developed tourism industry, I find myself lamenting the state of our own.

Here is an interesting point: the tenge has depreciated against the Georgian lari from 80 to 146 tenge per lari. That means the lari barely reacted to the "global financial crisis" and did not fall victim to a conspiracy of Western countries. Meanwhile, the flow of tourists to Georgia keeps growing. Georgia, of course, has a sea coast, but most people go not to the sea but to Tbilisi and the mountain areas, which we have too.

From a foreign tourist's point of view, Kazakhstan is currently on roughly the same level as Cambodia or Laos: people know that such a country exists, that it is cheap and may even be beautiful, but an inner voice tells them they would rather go to Georgia, or at worst to Kyrgyzstan.

From the standpoint of the national economy, when you have cheap labor, beautiful places and nature, and a more or less functioning infrastructure, you are simply meant to develop inbound tourism. And it does not require big spending, unlike, say, building screwdriver-type car assembly plants.

Tourism is practically 100 percent localized production and the only service that is nominally exported. With a weak currency and the right kind of state assistance, it delivers the best return for the country's economy. Every tenge invested goes into GDP growth, not into imports of auto parts and equipment, and it does not stimulate neighboring countries.

What the state needs to do to develop tourism:

1. Security
2. Infrastructure
3. Not getting in the way of business
4. Providing events
5. Visa support and migration legislation

6. Ensuring access to scenic places

7. Security is the most difficult component in Kazakhstan. There is a great deal one could write here, but what is needed is a complete reform of the police. It is long overdue, and everyone realizes it. Naturally, this requires not only organizational work but also financial resources: proper equipment for the police, good pay and good physical training, as well as knowledge of languages, at least in large cities, etiquette and the like. A police officer should not be someone you fear, but someone who will help you at any moment. Here, unfortunately, it is the opposite.

8. As for infrastructure, a lot is being done in principle, but everything has to be thought through down to the smallest detail, and the issue is not only roads but other aspects as well. Kazakhstan is a big country with good roads, yet we do not even have a decent car rental market. Insurance needs to be reformed and, most importantly, quality GPS provided, and in the regions we need to somehow move away from the practice of police lying in ambush to catch violators. I once pictured what happens when some German gets caught that way and they start explaining things to him. All of this also applies to the first point.
9. Not getting in the way of business. The whole of tourism practically rests on SMEs. The state simply needs to stop terrorizing SMEs and let them grow, provide a normal tax system, and put inspections and their number in order.
10. Events are not only EXPO and the Universiade, although those certainly count; there should be cultural and sporting events on a regular basis. For example, World Cups in certain sports or annual exhibitions. We need our own signature attractions, something that makes people come here.
11. Visa support. Given that cronyism and corruption exist even in embassies, the easiest thing is simply to expand the list of countries with visa-free entry. In principle, things are moving in that direction, and many countries already enter Kazakhstan without visas. But I believe that if we want a good audience, we should pay attention not only to developed countries but also to developing ones, in Southeast Asia, where people watch the travel budget. We need to simplify visa issuance, move it to an electronic format and eliminate the human factor as much as possible. I deal with many foreigners, and everyone who falls under the visa regime is simply baffled by our visa policy; Chinese travelers complain the most.

And please do away at last with this relic of mandatory migration registration within five days. It is simply corruption and nothing more.

First, for a small bribe you can be temporarily registered at any address you like, and that is a problem.

Second, people come to Kazakhstan not to sit in apartments but to admire nature. How do you explain to a foreigner that he must register in, say, Almaty when he is going to the Kolsai Lakes? It is simply absurd.

Third, if you miss the registration, the poor foreigner is not allowed to leave at the border and is put in jail for three days. I had such a case: an ordinary tourist did not register, was detained at the border and taken to jail. For one thing, he had no idea he was supposed to register; for another, I never understood why it had to be jail right away. Then I did understand: one price to avoid sitting in jail, another to sit in comfortable conditions. A friend of his from Europe called me and asked me to help. All I managed to do was get him a single cell for three days. I do not think such a foreigner will want to come back to us, and I do not think his immediate circle will come either.

And most importantly, all of this is in our hands and requires only organization and a decision backed by political will.

Interestingly, we have various industrialization programs, the State Programs for Industrial and Innovative Development, and various strategies for 2030 and 2050. There are programs for agriculture and even for labor productivity and energy efficiency. But I have never once seen a program for developing tourism in the country that was a systematic, well-developed and actually implemented document.