Astana, Kazakhstan, March 17
By Daniyar Mukhtarov - Trend:
The 9th international tourism exhibition "Inturmarket-2014" opened at the "Crocus Expo" exhibition center in Moscow on March 15. The organizer of the Kazakh stand is the Committee of Tourism Industry of the Ministry of Industry and New Technologies of Kazakhstan, the committee reported.
Kazakhstan's exhibit is designed under a yurt made in modern colors and was visited by the Secretary-General of the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) Taleb Rifai. He noted the positive dynamics of development of tourism in the region and stressed the need to promote regional tourism products such as the "Great Silk Road".
The UNWTO secretary- general also said that in 2013 the global tourist influx exceeded the one billion- threshold while some 1.87 billion people left their country with the purpose of tourism. It is expected that the number of tourist influx will grow by 4.5-5% this year.
As the Chairman Committee of Tourism Industry of the Ministry of Industry and New Technologies of Kazakhstan Marat Yigaliyev noted, not only the representatives of regional tourist administration, but also many tourist companies are represented in the Kazakh exhibition this year.
"I am sure it is related to the overall policy promoting domestic tourism in the country," he said.
Kazakhstan also plans to hold large-scale presentations of tourist potential of the country in special venues like EXPO-2017 in Astana as well as in Almaty, Mangistau provinces and Almaty city.
The representatives of 148 world countries and regions are attending the fair this year, about 1,500 companies submitted the application for participation. Organizers expect that some 80, 000 people will visit the exhibition. The exhibition will last until March 18, and is focused primarily on working with a professional audience. During the exhibition, the Kazakh delegation will take part in conferences, seminars, master-classess, round tables and presentations.
Translated by S.I.
Edited by C.N.