BAKU, Azerbaijan, June 9. Authorities in
Kazakhstan have been instructed to increase the number of flights
and railway seats to popular domestic tourist destinations, Prime
Minister Olzhas Bektenov said at a government meeting, Trend reports via the Kazakh
government.
“Requests are being received from the public regarding limited
transport accessibility to popular and remote tourist destinations.
There are concerns about shortages and the affordability of air and
rail tickets,” Bektenov said at the meeting.
He directed the Ministry of Transport, together with airlines
and the national railway operator Kazakhstan Temir Zholy, to expand
flight frequencies and passenger capacity on high-demand routes at
affordable prices.
Bektenov also highlighted safety risks during the summer tourism
season, saying emergency services must operate in an enhanced
readiness mode.
“At this stage of the summer tourist season, all regional
administrations and ministries must take additional preventive
measures to ensure the safety of vacationers. Emergency response
services should already be under heightened monitoring,” he
said.
He called for stronger public awareness campaigns on water
safety and fire prevention, as well as greater involvement of
volunteers in outreach activities.
The prime minister further stressed the need to improve tourism
infrastructure, including multilingual navigation signage,
sanitation standards at recreational areas, and better coordination
between responsible agencies.
“All recreation areas, parks and beaches must have proper
information signs, schemes and routes in different languages.
Cleanliness and sanitary compliance must be ensured,” Bektenov
said, adding that an operational coordination headquarters would
oversee implementation.
Separately, Bektenov said major tourism infrastructure projects,
including the Almaty SuperSki mountain resort, must be completed on
time.
“Construction work is already underway. It must be implemented
efficiently and completed within the set deadlines,” he said.
He noted that the number of eco-tourists in Kazakhstan exceeded
3.6 million in 2025, reflecting growing demand for nature-based
travel destinations.
Meanwhile, Minister of Internal Affairs Yerzhan Sadenov said
Kazakhstan continues to ease entry and stay procedures for foreign
visitors to support tourism growth. Citizens of 105 countries can
obtain electronic visas without visiting embassies, while Digital
Nomad and Neo Nomad visa regimes are also in place, with arrival
notifications handled online.
According to Minister of Transport Nurlan Sauranbayev, road
works this year cover 11,000 kilometers of public highways,
including routes leading to key tourist areas such as Rakhman
Springs, Kenderli, Bayanaul, Zerenda and Kolsai.
Data from the Bureau of National Statistics of Kazakhstan shows
that 661.2 million passengers were transported by the country's
transport in January–April 2026, an increase of 8.7% compared with
the same period in 2025. Air transport carried 4.5 million
passengers in January–April 2026, up 2.7% year-on-year. Passenger
turnover increased by 9.1% to 9.5 billion passenger-kilometers,
reflecting longer average trip distances and rising demand for air
travel.
Passenger transportation and passenger turnover in road
transport and urban electric transport rose by 8.9% and 3.5%,
respectively, over the period.
The government’s focus on transport capacity and infrastructure
expansion signals an effort to address seasonal bottlenecks that
typically emerge during peak summer travel. If implemented as
planned, increased rail and air connectivity could ease price
pressure on popular domestic routes, while improved road access is
likely to support a broader geographic spread of tourist flows
beyond established destinations.
At the same time, continued simplification of visa regimes may
gradually increase inbound tourism, though sector growth will
likely remain dependent on infrastructure readiness and service
quality across regional destinations.
