NUR-SULTAN – Cultural heritage tourism continues to develop in Kazakhstan, covering more regions and involving the country’s business community. As part of the Ruhani Zhangyru (Modernisation of Kazakhstan’s Identity) programme, the Otyrar, Tamgaly and Ulytau visitor centres will open this year, said Sacral Kazakhstan Research Centre head Berik Abdygaliuly after the programme’s national committee meeting.
Ulytau Mountains. Photo credit: e-history.kz.
He spoke about developing the cultural heritage tourism infrastructure, noting small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are contributing to its progress.
“Our expert and methodological support mainly works in Nur-Sultan. The main work is carried out in the regions. Roads and objects (historical objects, facilities for tourists) are restored, visitor centres are built. There are also buildings that are built by entrepreneurs. There are places where people want to come overnight, and hotels are built there. All this is carried out on a charity base. The development of this type of tourism creates a good multiplier effect and SMEs develop,” he said, reported inform.kz.
Restoring tourism destinations and objects and creating tourist facilities increase locals’ and foreigners’ interest in the country and its regions.
“Objects are restored, causing interest among people, and tourism is developing. Our people from time immemorial visited sacred places, but now people will learn more about them. People want to visit them because they are very interesting, because we have an abundance of historical and pilgrimage sites. There are also beautiful nature reserves. Information materials, many legends accompany this. Interesting videos are published, texts are being written about this in social networks and expeditions are being organised. These increase the knowledge of our citizens about their sacred wealth. It is through sacred objects and historical events that we get to know our history all over again,” said Abdygaliuly.
Opening the Otyrar (Turkestan Region), Tamgaly (Almaty Region) and Ulytau (Karagandy Region) visitor centres are expected to produce an increase in tourist flow.
“This should contribute to a greater increase in the number of tourists. Previously, tourists could not eat and spend the night there; now, such opportunities appear. In fact, these visitor centres will be like museums with complete information about them [the destinations]. These are the largest national visiting centres; there are also smaller ones in the regions. It is gratifying that entrepreneurs, who are actively building infrastructure there, are very interested in their development,” he added.
