Culture Minister names his favorite tourist destinations in Kazakhstan

ASTANA. KAZINFORM Minister of Culture and Sport of Kazakhstan Arystanbek Mukhamediuly spoke about the best tourist destinations in Kazakhstan, in his opinion, as well as the development of the industry in the country, Kazinform correspondent reports.

Among his personal favorites the Minister named the Altai and Ulytau mountains, adding that it is Ulytau where the mausoleum of the eldest son of Genghis Khan, Jochi is located and the fact that it is not widely known about around the world doesn't help the country's tourist industry.

Minister Mukhamediuly also spoke about the development of the country's tourist potential, including the plans to introduce electronic visas, continue stimulating domestic tourism through the implementation of the Rukhani Janghyru program, improve the quality of tourist services across the country through the introduction of international standards, launch a large-scale information campaign to attract domestic and foreign tourists.

The Minister also noted that a number of large international investors have expressed their interest in developing the tourist industry in Kazakhstan and that during President Nazarbayev's visit to the U.S., some leaders of the American film industry expressed their interest in working in Kazakhstan.

In terms of numbers, according to the Ministry's data, in the first nine months of 2017, the number of Kazakhstanis who chose domestic tourism increased by 25% reaching 3.5 million, while the number of foreign tourists rose by 18% to 5.8 million.