President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Zhomart Tokayev held a meeting on tourism development, the press office of the President of Kazakhstan reports.
The leader of Kazakhstan emphasised the important role of tourism as a catalyst for economic growth. He noted that Kazakhstan has the rich natural and cultural heritage, but has not reached its full potential in this area.
«Urgent consistent measures are required to make a qualitative breakthrough in tourism industry,» Tokayev said.
The President emphasised that the number of accommodation places in resort areas has decreased, despite the surge in tourist arrivals.
A very negative situation has developed in the resort area of Alakol and the Almaty mountain cluster, where the number of hotels and tourist centres decreased by 24 and 16, respectively. Tokayev emphasised that this leads to a tax revenue and job loss in the regions.
