UNWTO General Assembly's XVIII session held in Astana

Over 140 delegations from 120 countries of the world took part in the General Assembly's session, which is held for the first time in Eurasia. 80 tourism ministers from different countries of the world are among the guests.

In his speech Nursultan Nazarbayev noted that Kazakhstan is the first country of Eastern Europe and Central Asia, which was honored to hold such forum.

Share of the tourism sphere makes up 10 percent of the volume of the world GDP. Almost a quarter of a billion workers are engaged in this sphere. The tourist revenue reaches USD 4 trln in the global scale. The tourist business ensures over USD 800 bln of tax revenues to all states of the world.

"We hope that today's meeting will become an important step towards Astana development as one of the tourist capitals of the world", Nursultan Nazarbayev noted.

The Head of the State emphasized that tourism is one of the engine of the world economy.

The President paid attention to that at present interest of foreign tourists to Kazakhstan grows. According to marketing research, about 14 mln tourists from Europe and Asia plan to visit Kazakhstan in the nearest future.