tourism review online magazine - destination kazakhstan

8/7/2019 Tourism Review Online Magazine - Destination Kazakhstan

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Kazakhstan is a country of vast

steppes, ancient culture, as

well s the rst wrlds s-

dre Bikr. The -

trs tris idstr hs gret

ptel; hweer, sider-able development is necessary.


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DESTINATION kzhstn: ancient nd poetic

ari l , 2011

Kazakhstan, the 9th largest country in theworld, having a rich history of nomadic civiliza-s, lrge trl diersit d beig prtf the fs Silk Rd, sll rts few tr-ists fr rd the wrld. Hw e?

cHallenges

The low number of visitors has clear reasons.First of all, Kazakhstan has two neighbors that

re prg their tris er qite ee-el d he er dist brd: ubeki-stan, taking advantage of its rich past with his-tril d reetl reted Silk Rd ies;and the smaller brother Kyrgyzstan, with thesame nomadic past as Kazakhstan, and with anabundance of high mountains, lakes and pre-sered di lifestle. Bth tries heged t rete ler tris brd drt freig isitrs. Kkhst lksthis dist brd, hs er sethig feerthig, whih shld be trslted it new brand and a new branding strategy.

trends and successes

The inbound tourism in Kazakhstan is on therise, though slowly. To some extent this must berelated to the growing publicity that the countryis reeiig de t its geplil psi, withan abundance of oil and other natural resources.

Drig the lst e ers prgr t estblish

tourism in kazakHstan

neW branding strategy needed


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hest pprties rss seerl prts fthe tr d i the iiit f (ptel)trist dess hs bee sessfl, gi-ing tourists the opportunity to observe and

tke prt i ll Kkh illge life. I sh vast and empty land one cannot expect hotels

eerwhere, s this iie is er wele,i ddi giig ll ies lieli-hood out of tourism. Therefore, programs that

ilde these dess re w er

r h t p kh

Kazakhstan rated 93rd among 139 countriesin the World Economic Forums Travel andTourism Compeveness Report 2011. Russiawas a leader among the CIS countries ranking59 in the rang. It was followed by Georgia(73), Azerbaijan (83), Ukraine (85), Armenia(90), Kazakhstan (93), Moldova (99), Kyrgyzstan(107), and Tajikistan (118).

En.trend.az

and welcome a growing number of visitors.Finally, it is important to observe that Almatyhs the regis st iprtt internaonalairport, with re d re iterl irpies erig ights fr lwer pries.

destinations

Wht extl isitr expet t d iKkhst? I geerl, sethig f eer-

thing; steppe almost everywhere, and high

mountains up to 7,000 meters in border areaswith Krgst, chi d Rssi; slrk frs i seerl prts f the tr,including the very remote western peninsula ofmgshlk; di trdis i the illgesand nomadic life in summer in the mountains;

tres f the Silk Rd d the Trkest m-sle f ahed Khj yswi i the sth;rk sis d Siet heritge i the eter,including remnants of prisoner camps andler test sites; the shrikig arl Se with itstris ship grerds d the Bikr cs-modrome in the center-west; the new capitalAstana with its modern and outstanding archi-tecture; the cultural centre Almaty with a ski-ing resort and surrounding varied landscapes

Wherever one travels in Kazakhstan, due tothe small number of tourists and the vastnessof the country, one cannot but feel like a pio-neer and a very welcomed pioneer.

future

What is needed to increase the volume of tour-ists t Kkhst? While we he fsed how to bring foreign visitors to Kazakhstan, the


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st iprtt tsk fr the Tris athrieswld be t ke the ll ppl reinterested in its lands and its past. More domes- isitrs wld gretl ipre the filies,helpig t rt freigers i the press.

The Trist athries shld estblish ewbrand fr Kkhst s trist des-; rete ber f trs tht relte t

this, and promote them heavily, with the aidof Kazakhstani and foreign tour operators andtravel agencies.

One would think that the diversity of Kazakh-stan should be the essence of this new brand,irprg i the (ew) prgrs r-s like ast with its rhitetrl ges,Almaty and its cultural life, remnants of theSilk Rd i the sth, d f rse thenatural diversity of the country, includingsteppe, high mountains and mountain lakes,all of which can be found in both the Almatyd alti regi i relel pt res.Bt, we t it eig the fshospitality of the Kazakhs, preserved fromes whe deig strger ple t st

in ones yurt meant his or her death, and which sll be felt eerwhere.

These days Kazakhstan is a liberal countrywith a peaceful, harmonious blend of peopleand religions, both Asians and Europeans,mslis d chriss. If thig else, thisshould be the reason to make a visit.

By Ardjan Langedijk

Kazakhstan Tours, Heemstede, The Netherlands,tel. (++) 31 6 47 12 64 09

hp://www.kazaktours.com
http://www.tourism-review.com/


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On the worlds tourism map Kazakhstan,despite its large size, is only a small spot as aniig tris des. The jritf the trs tris sights d des-s ser fr lile wreess, lk f ifr-strtre, liited d ilbilit,isistet serie qlit d priig. Hw-eer, with the trs rpidl grwig e-i pwer this is strg t hge s thetris is beeg fr lrge geret

and private investments.

I 2010 Kkhst ws isited b re th6 illi rrils, whih ws 6% irese -pared to 2009. The neighboring countries

Russia, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan were the

ledig sre f trists g fr re

th 80% f ll rrils. The jrit f trips barrivals from these countries were not for tra-

dil tris prpses thgh, bt fr see-ig reles r frieds, t seek eplet,

and for business purposes.

Exldig cIS tries*, chi, Ger dTurkey were the leading arrival source countries

i 2010. crretl, the jrit f trists fr cIS tries isit Kkhst fr bsiesspurposes, as the country is a large oil, gas and

trl ierl spplier. Bsiess trists re-ate and maintain strong demand for high qual-

ity hotels, which resulted in the development of

sigit ber f 4- d 5-str htels ithe tr er the lst e ers perid.

Despite the entrance of large hotel chains to

the tr, there sll reis shrtge fre rdble bt qlit dsuch as 3-star hotels. The void created by the

lack of inexpensive and quality hotels in the

tr is beig lled b retl prtets,that are especially popular among visitors from

cIS tries.

d kh

(eur , )2005 2010 2015

Forecast

Domesc Tourist 12.8 19 32.6Expenditure

Incoming Tourist 34 58.5 112.9Receipts

2011 Euromonitor Internaonal

kazakHstan:

building tHe tourism infrastructure


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The st pplr leisre tris des-s fr isitrs re alkl, Bre, Klsj

d Issk lkes, chr , the ti-ous landscape of Zailijsky Ala Tau, areas located the Kkhst pr f the Silk Rdsh s the iet ies f Tr d Trke-st with ahed ysi's sle, d thewrlds rst speprt t Bikr. Hweer,the leisre tris i Kkhst is sll lrgelderdeelped d retis sigit ftregrwth ptel.

The government tries to boost tourism in a

variety of ways, such as through passing favor-ble legisl fr prite iestets i tr-is idstr, iesg i the deelpetf tris ifrstrtre d hsg lrgeiterl eets. ul 2014, Kkhstied t deelp tris ifrstrtre,which includes new roads, railways, construc- f ew d re f ld d- tlets, er the i rerel es,Wrld Heritge Sites, s well s ther ltrl,

historical and business centers.

I Febrr 2011, Kkhst hsted hge iterl sprt eet Witer asiGes. The eet t l rted -ber f iterl trists, bt ls ge strg bst t the trs sll sll tr-ist idstr thrgh iresed iterl

awareness of Kazakhstan as a tourism des-, espeill i asi tries. TheWiter asi Ges ls bsted the trissetr thrgh lrge re th uS$ 1 bil -lion investments in infrastructure in areas ofd, pbli trsprt sstes, ir-ports and improved service levels.

i t kh(000 )2005 2010 2015

Forecast

Arrivals from 3820.6 6131.4 8131.7

Kyrgyzstan 741.7 1648.5 2408.8

Uzbekistan 1068.9 1701.8 2146.5

Russia 1332.8 1721.5 2071

Tajikistan 198.8 297.5 325.6

China 85.7 182.5 308.1

Other Countries 52.7 130.1 231.2of Origin

Turkey 58 84.1 136.1

Germany 84.5 93.1 127.4

Ukraine 44.5 72.1 97.7

Azerbaijan 42.7 39.5 58.1

Turkmenistan 21.1 32.5 41

United Kingdom 19.7 29.1 39.6

USA 25.3 25.5 28.9

2011 Euromonitor Internaonal

Kkhsts essibilit fr iterlvisitors is constantly improving as well, as more

iterl ir rriers ilde Kkhsties i their des ps. The ll ir-ways route map is rapidly expanding and newland border crossings with neighboring coun-tries are planned to be opened.

The consistent investments in the develop-ment of all areas of tourism sector indicatetht i lg ter Kkhst will be rgiresig bers f iterl isitrs.oer the ext e ers, the ber f i-ing visitors in Kazakhstan is expected to growb l rte f 6%, while iig trisreeipts re expeted t see 9% l grwth.

* CIS countries Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan,Belarus, Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan,Georgia, Armenia, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Mol-dova

By Mantas Kaluina (Euromonitor Internaonals SeniorResearch Analyst)

hp://www.euromonitor.com


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Almaty has perhaps one of the most strikingd befl ls f it i the wrld.Lted i the spetlr fthills f the zil-ishkiy Alatau Mountains, Almaty is a pleasant

city to live in, vibrant, green, and with thriving

cosmopolitan culture. The impressive moun-

tis re l hlf hrs drie fr the iteter. alts ppl is 1.5 illi.

The name Almaty comes from the Kazakh

wrd 'l', whih es 'pple'. It sed t beclaimed that Almaty was home to the sweetest

fruit in the world, and its former name, 'Alma-

at,' es fther f pples.

oe f the rst res experieed bmany foreigners arriving in the city is that it

is the most 'European' in its architecture of

ll the cetrl asi ies. 'alt' ws theoriginal name of a small Kazakh town, whichws reed 'Frt veri' r 'Ll Frt' b thecssks f the Rssi Epire i the 18th d19th etries. I the erl tweeth etr,the pitl f the Siet Silist Repbli fKazakhstan was established in the city, which

ws reed al-at. Sie the, the ithas become the center of the economic, cul-

trl, d plil life i Kkhst.

I 1997 the pitl ws ed t ast,whih is lted frther t the nrth, i thegegrphil eter f Kkhst. Hweer,alt reis the Sther cpitl, d the

il d ltrl eter t jst f Kkh -st bt f the whle cetrl asi regi.

Almaty is surrounded by the Alatau Moun-tains. Alatau means 'colorful' in Kazakh. Themountains can be seen from every corner ofthe city making it common for the locals touse phrases 'to go up' or 'to go down' a road intheir direct meaning.

alts lite is tietl: it is htin summer and can get very cold in winter.The ldest ths re Jr d Febr-

ary, when the average temperature drops

t -13c (9F), d the httest ths reJl d agst, whe the err er-ges rd +27c (80F). The lw rifll isreflected by low humidity, which moderates

both the heat of Almaty's summer and the

cold of its winter.

Almaty is a haven for fans of the great out-

drs. I the witer g gre skgt mede, the highest skg rik i the wrld,go skiing at one of several ski resorts within an

hour's drive of the city, or go hiking or climbing

in the mountains.

almaty: tHe cosmopolitan

center of kazakHstan


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I ser g silig, swiig,d sbthig t Kpshgi, rillcreated lake in an hour distance from the city.Sll bts be reted fr the d, s wells lrger bts fr lger exrsis. y go horseback riding at Almaty's hippodrome orin one of the valleys in the mountains outside

the city.Almaty is well-equipped with sports centers

d gs erig wide rge f filiesildig lsses i g, piltes d rlarts.

For lovers of culture, Almaty has several per-et theters ildig the Kkh nloper d Bllet Thetre, the Stte DrTheter, d seerl thers tht er dil per-fres i dieret lgges. There re

number of cinemas that show movies in Eng-

lish as well as a range of art galleries, muse-ums and even permanent circus. As well as agret ber f restrts erig bth lld iterl isie, the it is he t large and constantly evolving catalog of cafes,bars, bowling alleys and nightclubs.

landmarks

tHe republic square

lt's i sqre is the lrgest d thest pitresqe i the it, with its gi-cent ensemble of modern architecture. To thesth-est there is the Presidet's StherResidence, the former government building(w the akit, r cit Hll) d the lteleisi etre. The cetrl Stte mseis situated east of the square, and the Regent

akr Htel is the wester side.

I the eter f the sqre stds the18-eter-high et f Idepedeedesiged b Sht vlikh, well-kwKkh rhitet. Presidet nrbe hd theide fr the et while diplvisit to Egypt. The obelisk is topped with the

gre f Se wrrir with wiged swleprd i ight, d ked b etl pelsdepig ke eets i Kkhst's histr. plqe t the ft f the belisk bers thepl-prit the Presidet de the cs-t whe he ws swr i.

svyato-voznesenski ortHodox

catHedral

The thedrl (ls lled the zek cthe-

drl) is lted i the 28 Pls GrdsePrk. It ws desiged b ll rhitet a.P.zek d ws bilt i 1904 f wd, erelwitht ils. Its wll pigs d sreeswere pited b ll rst nihli chldwhile the iterir ders were de irt wrkshps i msw d Kie. Its heightis bt 50 eters. The bildig strikes esigi with its bet d spledr. It isone of the eight most unique wooden build-ings in the world. Of special interest is the fact

that it survived the 1911 earthquake with amagnitude of 10 on the Richter scale. Used asa museum of local lore, history, and economydrig the Siet perid, i m 1995 thecthedrl hs bee retred t the Rssiorthdx chrh d restred. Sie 1997,Orthodox services have been carried out there.

tHe central (green) bazaar

The cetrl mrket, therwise kw s the

Gree Br, brigs t life the est trdis


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f the asi br. r experiee thetre tste f the Est. This is t jst rket,bt eeg-ple f ris asi ltres iiitre. y sple the welth f pr-

de grw thrght cetrl asi s fthe farmers have come from neighboring coun-tries. I the br's pe rtrd there reers shshlk stds, e rket, werstlls d restrt serig ll dishes. Thefrit d egetbles t the Gree Br re fextremely good value in summer.

arasan batHs

Almaty's central bath-house is situated in

lrge, ipressie de-shped bildig

ppsite the l Prk. hr tpes fbth re ilble t ars: Rssi, Fiishand Turkish. The Russian and Finnish bathsshare the same plunge pool and you can try

bth e ket. The Fiish bth is drwhile the Russian version is a sea of steam.he Trkish bth sists f ste plrsheted t three dieret tepertres d plge pl. vris kids f ssge re er.

hp://www.kimep.kz

hp://tourasia.kz
http://www.olomouc-guide.com/


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The Baikonur Cosmodrome, the wrld's rstd lrgest perl spe lh filit,sitted i the iddle f Kkhsts steppeshd treeds histri sigie. It wsthe launch pad for a whole new chapter ofiili. I 2000, fr Je 2 t 4, the 45thiersr f Bikr sdre ws el-

ebrated with great fanfare.The l f the bse f Siet spe pr-

gram was of prime strategic importance, ander h sider, idel spt wsfound in the vast steppes of Kazakhstan closet the iig tw f Bikr. The e iKkh es "welth brw", i.e. "ferleld with herbs".

I 1954, whe the prjet ws eied, itws referred t s "experietl rge",

since no such word as cosmodrome existed inthe Russian language. When one of the con-str wrkers sked Sergei Krle, theSiet rket egieer, wht ws gig t bebuilt here in the middle of nowhere he wastld "Stdi I the biggest stdi i thewrld". It ws the perid f the s lled "ldwr" d gret sere srrded the site.The uSa ws keepig trk f the ber fler weps i the uSSR, d trig t

maintain an equal or greater stockpile.

One year before that, on 12 August 1953, therst siet hdrge bb hd bee testedi Seiplsk t the ler experietlrge. vihesl mlshe, the vie chirf the cbiet, derstdig the destrepwer f the bb d eisiig the ref rket, iited Sergei Krle t disss theer d he d siest Sergei Krk eup with a sketch of the legendary R-7, whichwld ltel rr p t 4.5 egts fnuclear energy to a target. Malyshev never didget t see the rst rket, s he died fr seri-s rdi he ws expsed t while wthigthe det f the hdrge bb.

mrshll Gergi Jk ws issiedt d the idel site fr the tesg grd.The tw f Bikr ws rete, i the ed-less steppes of Kazakhstan, yet thanks to its

l lse t the the sll itt arl Seand its bustling ports accessible by rail and

rd, the l llwed fr the es ship-ment of building materials. Also, during theere lh press, rkets wld he tst be Siet territr s their trjetriescould be monitored.

Brder res wld t d. Prllel t thestr f the bse t Tr-T (ld

e f Bikr) i 1955, bt 300 kfurther north another project was realized el the str f fke wderocket model and launch pad to detract thee f freig seret serie geies.And indeed, on 21 August 1957, as a completesrprise t the wrld, the rst R-7 ws sess-fully launched, and on 4 October of that sameer, the R-7 tplted the rst "sptik" st-ellite onto the orbit.

back to tHe soviet era:

exploring tHe baikonur

cosmodrome


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With the seret t t lst, the e cs-drome was established and on 12 April 1961yri Ggri blsted fr here t beethe rst t rbit the Erth i his spe-ship "vstk". The ight lsted fr 108 i. Bthe, the spe idstr hd rted gretwrkfre, s the tw f Bikr, higgrw it it, ws reed Leisk dthe rket site ws referred t s Bikr.

There were not only moments of triumphthgh. Prir t Ggri's rst jre tspace, a rocket exploded on the ground, ander 100 is perished. aer the sessfljre i spe f the rst fele sti Je 1963, ther rket explsi tkplace, again at the cost of human life.

I 1994, Rssi re-lhed its spe pr-gr t Bikr. Bikr is fll eqippedwith filies fr lhig bth ed d

ed sper. It spprts seerl ge-ers f Rssi sper: S, Prt,Tskl, Depr, zeit d Br. Drig theteprr lpse f the uited Sttes' SpeShle prgr er the clbi Dissteri 2003 it pled essel rle i pergd respplig f the Iterl Spe St- (ISS) with S d Prgress sper.

At present, Russia has a rent agreement

with Kazakhstan allowing them to use the sitel 2050. It is ged jitl b the RssiFederl Spe age d the Rssi SpeForces. The shape of the area rented is anellipse, measuring 90 kilometers east to west,by 85 kilometers north to south, with the cos-modrome at the centre.

Thanks to the Russian space program, thecity and the cosmodrome are growing anddeveloping.

b fMany historic ights lied o from Baikonur:the rst operaonal interconnental balliscmissile (ICBM); the rst man-made satellite,Sputnik 1, on October 4, 1957; the rst space-cra to travel close to the Moon, Luna 1, onJanuary 2, 1959; the rst manned orbital ightby Yuri Gagarin on April 12, 1961; and theight of the rst woman in space, ValennaTereshkova, in 1963. 14 cosmonauts of 13 othernaons, such as Czechoslovakia, East Germanyand France, started their historic journeys fromhere as well under the Interkosmos program. In1960, a prototype R-16 ICBM exploded beforelaunch, killing over 100 people.

Wikipedia.org

For several years now it is possible to visitBikr s trist d t explre the st-ness of the Kazakh steppes around the cos-dre whih is fts d erbleexperience for all adventurous travelers, notonly for those interested in the history of spacetehlg. visitrs wlk rd the Bi-konur city, and tour the cosmodrome and itssights. at the wrlds ldest d lrgest s -

modrome the travelers can see all the Russianrockets, all launching pads, all assembly build-ing vehicles. Among the most popular land-rks re the "Prt" lh plex, speshle "Br", Ggri's lh site, the testplex f the he trsprt rket "S",eril hse f yri Ggri d isirSerge Krle, the lh plex "zeit"and much more.

hp://www.orexca.com


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Turkistan a sacred place, a place of wor-ship and pilgrimage for Muslims, one of theldest ies i the wrld. It hs pplf 85,600 d is sitted 160 k (100 iles)rth-west f Shket the Trs-arl Ril-way between Kyzylorda to the north and Tash-kent to the south.

The site f iet seleet Trkist isan important archeological monument of therb ltre f Sth Kkhst. The jr

rle this tw pled i the Lte middle agesi Kkhst is widel kw. It ws the e-ter f the ei d plil deelpetof various states, a trade and cultural centre onthe j f st steppes d iet gri-ltrl res, the ple f prehig i-es f the Trki S Khdj akhed yswi,the plil etre f the Kkh Sttehdd the "sed me" f the msle Est.Medieval Turkistan experienced a stormy his-

tr with perids f rishig d delie.This tw bsrbed ltrl trdis f ri-s rigis. I 2000, Trkist elebrted its1500th anniversary.

A huge amount of ancient monuments, morethan 800, remained there. Turkistan used tobe e f the st sigit trde d plit-il eters f the whle cetrl asi regifr etries. ul the 18th etr,Trkist, r ysi, s it sed t be lled, ws

the capital of the Kazakh Khanate formed in

the 15th century. Many ancient monumentsare retained in the city; striking architectureof the city surprisingly passed through a mil-lei with prll hged pper-

ance.

The iet bildigs f ysi sggest the life-style of people of the city. Turkistan as a city seton a trade route, certainly had a big advantageer ther ies i the sese tht it trll

rted lbr, fds, ded tehlg,

turkistan: tHe arcHeological

treasure


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fs siests d philsphers. Trkistws ls eter f ed: there werelarge libraries in the city.

The hist d preher ahed yssifounded a theological school there. When thefs S Hj ahed yssi red ser-mon in the city Turkistan became quite wellkw. I his hr teple ws bilt here masterpiece of medieval architecture, mauso-le, sisg f plex f ples dtemples. Fine furnishings and interior decora-s f wlls, rfs d eiligs will ipressanyone.

Even by modern standards, the building ofthe sle is sidered er lrge (40eters i height); it hs seerl des. Thecentral dome of the mausoleum, Kazanlak,ies re th 35 dieret rs. The l-

dron was a symbol of unity and hospitality forthe Trks. Therefre, speil sigie wshed t its sie d ppere.

Among historical places, Ordabasy natu-rl bdr is prlrl iteresg. Itws reetl wrded the stts f HistriResere. It is here where frerl seredKkh tribes ited, trsedig ll dier-ences, to confront the powerful and danger-ous invader, Dzungaria. Among other famousples rd Trkist re Hk, the tbof the Kazakh khans Esimhana, Ablai KhanAbulhairhana, the burial place of Kazybek, onef the fders f the rst set f Kkh lws"zhet zhrg".

hp://www.visitkazakhstan.kz

hp://www.natcom.unesco.kz

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tourism review online magazine - destination kazakhstan

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