00:00Milição
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00:2120…
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00:28Zajsan, Katon Karagaj i Kenderle
00:53Zajsan, Katon Karagaj i Kenderle
00:58Tourism investments rose 20% to 1.6 billion euros last year. 100 new hotels opened and revenues grew nearly 30%.
01:07Kazakhstan is developing agri, business, shopping, event and ecotourism.
01:12Kazakhstan's President Kasimzha Martukaev recently raised concerns about the state of the country's tourist destinations, pointing to a lack of basic infrastructure and amenities.
01:22To explore possible solutions, we're joined by Daniel Serzhan-Oly,
01:28acting chairman of the national company Kazak Tourism.
01:33Mr. Serzhan-Oly, welcome.
01:35Thank you. It's my pleasure.
01:37What is your target number for foreign tourists,
01:39and how are you working to overcome the headwinds?
01:42We're in the national development plan,
01:45where a clear target set is 15 million tourists annually.
01:48To support this idea, we work in four main directions.
01:54First, of course, it's air connectivity,
01:57which, thanks to our OpenSky regime,
02:00more than 20 new routes opened recently,
02:04and 30 more are coming years.
02:06Next is visa-free regime.
02:08Maybe you know that currently 87 countries in our visa-weaver list.
02:13Third is, of course, it's a modernization of the infrastructure.
02:17Both in natural and historical sites.
02:21Today, I want to share with you off-the-beaten track.
02:24First is Katon-Katagai National Park
02:27in the very eastern point of our country.
02:31It's the biggest national park.
02:32The second is Baikonur Cosmodrome.
02:35It's a place from where humankind first touched the space.
02:41And today, we are opening this destination to the travelers.
02:47And last but not least,
02:49it's the ultimate ultra-trail hiking route near Almaty,
02:55which will be stretching for 1,200 kilometers,
02:59starting from Almaty to the border with Kruistan, the Kusai Lakes.
03:04So what new digital tools or platforms are being introduced
03:07to enhance travel experience and streamline services for tourists?
03:12Currently, we are working with the super app
03:16because when tourists arrive to the country,
03:18we should ensure that they will find verified services.
03:22So currently, when you come to Almaty or Astana,
03:25you can just scan the QR code
03:27and get recommended services like local ride
03:30or electronic SIM cards, electronic guides, and et cetera.
03:34So we are now integrating all these things
03:37in one super application,
03:39which will use AI-powered assistant
03:42with these bookings and events and other offerings.
03:47Mr. Sejanoğlu, thank you so much for being with us today.
03:50Thank you. It was my pleasure.
03:54Kazakhstan is developing a new tourist destination at Baikonur,
03:58the world's first and largest cosmodrome in the Kuzlardar region.
04:02Euronews has exclusive footage.
04:06Kazakhstan has transferred oversight of Gagarin's historic launch pad,
04:10site of the first human spaceflight in 1961,
04:13to its airspace committee, paving the way for tourism.
04:15Russia, which leases Baikonur Cosmodrome,
04:17returned the site in June,
04:19along with more than 50 decommissioned facilities.
04:21Kazakhstan now plans to turn them into a year-round tourist hub.
04:24Today is a historical moment, the Gagarin's start.
04:27The Russian side has sent us, the Kazakhstan side,
04:30and we have sent this symbolic key to the company Inbracos,
04:34the aerospace committee, which will continue to develop tourism.
04:37The tourism plan for Baikonur is set for approval by September.
04:40Authorities will start by inspecting decommissioned sites for safety,
04:43aiming to restore landmarks like Gagarin's launch pad,
04:45and the Energia Buran fueling complex as part of an open-air museum.
04:49New infrastructure, hotels, glamping, visitor centers, restaurants,
04:52and a children's camp will follow.
04:54With expanded lodging, Baikonur could host up to 50,000 tourists a year by 2029,
04:59a five-fold increase from today.
05:00For now, rocket launches remain in the main draw,
05:19with three already completed this year and three more scheduled by December.
05:22Access to Kazakhstan's remote tourist sites remains a challenge,
05:28but authorities say rail service is improving.
05:32Over the past two years, Kazakhstan has added 250 new railway carriages,
05:36with 226 more on the way this year.
05:40To walk us through how rail projects are boosting tourism,
05:43we're joined by Anwar Akhmedzhanov,
05:45deputy chairman at the National Railway Company, Kazakhstan-Temirzhala.
05:52Mr. Akhmedzhanov, welcome. Good to have you with us.
05:54Thank you.
05:55What steps are being taken to improve rail access
05:58to some of the country's more remote tourist destinations?
06:02We are adding some trains for Balkhash destination, for the lake tourists.
06:09We have some additional trains to Burabai.
06:11It's a nearest location for Astana citizens.
06:15And we have special trains, about 11 trains every year we add to Alakol destination.
06:21It's lake tourism in Kazakhstan.
06:23These are the common ways of developing the tourist locations,
06:28but we have the new product, and we started it last year.
06:31We have a special tourist train from Kazakhstan to Central Asia,
06:35connecting Almaty, Turkestan, and the pearls of Central Asia,
06:38like Tashkent, Bukhara, and Samarkand.
06:40The tourists, they travel during the nighttime,
06:43and then during the daytime, they have the opportunity
06:46to have a sightseeing of the major cities.
06:48We see that the great potential lies on the Chinese markets,
06:52and this year we made the first trip from China to Kazakhstan,
06:56so we organized the first Chinese-Kazakhstan train.
06:59More than 250 Chinese tourists came to Almaty.
07:02At the same time, since we have this Central Asian train,
07:06I mean, the Jibbek Zholi, the Silkway train,
07:08so we want to connect Chinese train with Central Asian train.
07:11So Chinese tourists will come from China,
07:13then spend two, three days in Almaty,
07:15then they can use our Jibbek Zholi train to go to Central Asia.
07:18So it will connect China, Kazakhstan, and Central Asian states.
07:21What measures are being introduced to make cross-border rail travel
07:24between Kazakhstan and its neighbors more comfortable
07:27and accessible for tourists?
07:29In our trains, what we did, for example,
07:31if there is a border control, they can do it inside the train.
07:34So there is no need to go out of the train,
07:36so the border control personnel will come into the train,
07:41and during 15-20 minutes, they can check all the documents
07:44and allow the tourists to enter another country.
07:48Very insightful.
07:49Thank you, Mr. Akhnejana, for being with us.
07:51Thank you. It was a pleasure.
07:54That's all for now.
07:55See you in the next episode of EastWest Connect.
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