Tourism in Kazakhstan

Kazakhstan has a vast territory with great natural diversity, all of which can have a high tourist attraction. However, only the beauty of nature does not guarantee a high demand from inbound tourism.

According to the Travel & Tourism Development Index 2021, which is published by the World Economic Forum, Kazakhstan ranks 66th out of 117 countries included in the rating. The weakest point for Kazakhstan, the compilers of the rating noted the points on the infrastructure of air transport and cultural and entertainment infrastructure.

The analysis of tourism in Kazakhstan was carried out based on official data of the Bureau of National Statistics andJusan big data on the expenses of our clients. The sample included returnable groups from 20 to 70 years old with different income levels.

So, according to our analysis, the main travellers are young people aged 31-35 and 26-30 years. More than 90% of the population belonging to these age groups have made trips from their native region (across Kazakhstan or abroad) at least once a year for two days or more. The ratio of outbound and domestic tourism is approximately 40% and 60%, respectively.

A group with an income level of up to 200 thousand tenge per month accounts for 60% of the tourist flow in Kazakhstan. Citizens who have a salary of more than 1 million tenge per month also travel actively. Almost 80% of the people included in this group travel. Tourists with a salary of up to 400 thousand tenge, of any age category, in 70% of cases choose to travel around Kazakhstan. Outbound tourism is most popular among the age group of 26-40 years, who have a salary of 500 thousand tenge per month.

The average check in most age groups for outbound tourism exceeds 100 thousand tenge per day, and for domestic tourism 10-15 thousand tenge per day. The average duration of a trip abroad is 7-9 days. The most popular are trips within the country is 2 days (weekend tour).

The key purpose of the domestic tourism trip is to visit friends and relatives. The most visited Kazakhstan regions by domestic tourists are Almaty and Akmola regions, Almaty and Astana cities. Domestic tourists, when travelling, mainly use rail transport and their cars. These types of transport account for more than 60% of the tourist flow.

The average daily check for all age categories amounted to 18 thousand tenge in Almaty and 12 thousand tenge in Astana. The largest share in the average check falls on hotels – 42%. Catering organizations and stores account for about 16% of expenses. A significant part of domestic tourists visit Almaty and Astana cities by their cars, as evidenced by the high share of fuel station expenses in the average check (10%).

Most of the Kazakhstan tourists travelled to nearby countries – Russia, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan. These countries accounted for 70%-90% of the total outbound tourist flow in various years. From non-CIS countries, the "resort countries" Turkey, the UAE and Egypt are in the greatest demand among our tourists.

In the "resort countries", our tourists have the largest expenses in the "hotels" category (they include all expenses that pass through payment terminals installed in hotels) - 65% of the average daily check. Shopping accounts for 18%. It is noteworthy that taxi and fuel station expenses are the same amount – 4% of the average daily receipt. In Turkey, our tourists spend more on fuel stations than on taxis, whereas in the UAE, taxi spending prevails over fuel stations. Therefore, we can assume that renting cars in Turkey is more popular, and in the UAE using taxi services. It is noteworthy, but the largest expenses on fuel stations in Turkey belong to tourists with an income level of 300-700 thousand tenge per month. Tourists with an income of more than 1 million tenge per month actively use both taxi services and rental cars.

In the UAE, the categories of tourists with a monthly income of 200-400 thousand tenge per month and those with an income of more than 1 million tenge per month have the largest expenses on taxis. Other tourists are less active in personal travels.

More than 85% of tourists coming to Kazakhstan are citizens of three countries – Russia, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan. About 80% come for private purposes, which can be considered business tourism. And about 1% of foreign citizens entering the country indicate tourism as the purpose of their trip.