Kazakhstan interested in Belarus' experience in promoting rural tourism

"We are very interested in agro-ecotourism which is well developed in Belarus. We are also interested in a system of guest houses in the countryside. I think we should learn from this experience," the expert said.

In his view, Kazakhstan can offer exotic holidays in the spirit of nomads, in yurts, with tasting of local dishes (Kumys, lamb dishes, etc.). Kazakhstan is very interested in the experience of Belarus which has managed to create favorable conditions for the development of rural tourism.

Moreover, Kazakhstan has numerous picturesque places for outdoor recreation and interesting national customs that will surely be interesting for foreign nationals. He regretted that so far national tourism products are not advanced very actively both on Kazakhstan's domestic market and abroad. Kazakhstani people themselves prefer to go on holiday abroad. As for foreign tourists, most of them are the Russians from the border regions. The proportion of Belarusian travelers in Kazakhstan is negligible. "According to official statistics, they are very few," acknowledged expert.

Although business tourism between Belarus and Kazakhstan has been gaining pace in recent years. This is due to the establishment of the EurAsEC, Single Economic Space and the Customs Union. "There are preconditions for direct communication between businesses. Yet, tourism is also a business," said Zhalgas Balgozhin. In his view, the first step is to forge closer contacts between representatives of tourist industry of both states. For example, Belarusian travel agencies need to participate in the exhibitions in Kazakhstan and vice versa, BelTA reports.

The expert also has high hopes for Expo 2017 in Astana. "We expect more than 5 million visitors," he said. In addition, Kazakhstan is set to adopt the concept of development of the tourism industry up to 2020, which will set out the priorities for the development of domestic and inbound tourism.