Kazakhstan, China discuss boosting coop in tourism

"Year 2017 was announced the year of Chinese tourism in Kazakhstan. Along with development of economic cooperation, we are interested in tourism relations with you. We expect to receive a great number of tourists at the forthcoming EXPO-2017 in Astana. We believe that we should start working on this issue today (...) This summer we have organized a road show on presentation of Kazakhstan's tourism potential under the auspices of the Kazakh Embassy, namely Ambassador Shakhrat Nuryshev. This event was attended by the representatives of China's tour operators and tourism coordinationcompany," A.Mussinov said.

In his turn, Li Shihong told that by a decision of the State Council of the People's Republic of China, in 2011 Kazakhstan was included in the list of countries recommended for Chinese tourists. "Kazakhstan is our all-round strategic partner and an important country for the development of tourism. We hope for simplification of visa regime for Chinese tourists (...). We know that Kazakhstan is a beautiful country, but the majority of the Chinese tourists are not aware of this fact," said he. In this regard, he invited Kazakhstan to partake in the World Travel Fair in Beijing scheduled for May 2016.

Mussinov and Shihong discussed such practical measures on promotion of bilateral tourism as establishment of a bilateral working group, organization of group travels for Chinese tourists (the so-called ADS-agreement - Approved Destination Status), provision of assistance in establishment of contacts between both sides' operators, development of tourist routes in Kazakhstan in compliance with Chinese tourists' preferences, training of Chinese-speaking guides etc.

As A. Mussinov noted, Kazakhstan and China are enjoying high-level relations in all areas now. "China's Silk Road Economic Belt and Kazakhstan's Nurly Zhol programs harmonize with each other as they both aim at development of economic relations between our countries," noted he. The parties touched upon also the top level visits exchanged by Kazakhstan and China in 2015 as well as development of near-border cooperation between Kazakhstan and XUAR.