Forum, fam trip arranged for travel companies in Karaganda rgn
The forum that took place at an ethnic exhibition village was attended by representatives of tourist industry, associations, government agencies, KazakhTourism National Company, and nonprofit organizations.
About 60 tour operators and travel associations from Astana, Almaty, Akmola, Zhambyl and Karaganda regions cooperating with foreign partners from Russia, China, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan took part in the familiarization trip.
The familiarization trip includes a visit to historical, cultural, sacred sites, and traveler attractions. Many of these sites are little known not only to foreign tourists but also to Kazakhstanis. Every year, about 12,000 tourists visit the sacred places in Ulytau district. It is planned to make the figure ten times as high through such forums and familiarization trips.
The participants discussed and made their proposals for the development of tourism in the region.
The forum was also attended by Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of France to the Republic of Kazakhstan Philippe Martinet.
"The development of tourism is very crucial, firstly, for the economy of the region, and, secondly, for culture. We, the French, would be very interested in sites, which are little known to the whole world. Besides, your culture and nature are interesting for us. For us, it is not so much the comfort as the pristine natural beauty and the environment that is important.".
Since ancient times Ulytau has been considered a sacred treasury of the great Kazakh steppe. In the district, there are more than 600 monuments of various times, 282 of which are included in the historical and cultural map of the Ulytau open-air reserve museum. The most famous of them are the Jochi Khan Mausoleum, where the eldest son of the famous Genghis Khan was buried; Khan Ordasy historical site, where the great events of history related to the establishment of the Kazakh Khanate took place; Altyn Shoka stone slab associated with Amir Temir; the petroglyphs of Terekty-Auliye, Tamdy, and other historical, cultural and sacred sites.