Kazakh Tourism Plans To Open Regional Office In Malaysia Next Year

By Siti Radziah Hamzah NUR-SULTAN (KAZAKHSTAN), July 2 (Bernama) -- Kazakh Tourism National Company JSC is planning to open a regional office in Malaysia within the first half of 2020 to lure more Southeast Asian tourists to the Land of the Great Steppe. Deputy chairman Kairat Sadvakassov said Kazakhstan sees growing interest in tourism coming from Malaysia, including in the halal tourism and ecotourism sectors. Kazakhstan attracted 8.7 million inbound tourists in 2018, of which 14,264 were from Southeast Asia. Malaysian tourists accounted for 7,574 of the Southeast Asian tourists last year, a 44 per cent growth compared to 2017. "We think Malaysia should be a centre point for all the Southeast Asian markets. It also depends on funding, but Malaysia is one of the markets we are considering an office for the entire Southeast Asia region. We have also seen increasing interest from Malaysia for halal tourism and nature. "Not many people come here during winter, but this is something we want to promote," he told Bernama on the sidelines of the Astana Finance Days 2019. Currently, Kazakhstan’s national carrier, Air Astana, has a direct flight from Kuala Lumpur to Almaty and offer visa-free travel for Malaysian tourists. Sadvakassov said the board is planning to place more focus on seven countries, including its primary markets, China and Russia, followed by Malaysia, India, South Korea, Germany and the United Arab Emirates. "These are the countries we will be spending the most on marketing. These seven countries are really what we would like to focus on. We have an eye on four or five other markets, but want to be more focused," he added. Meanwhile, Sadvakassov said the board aims to increase the number of inbound tourists to 13 million by 2025, by increasing the number of visa waivers and air connectivity. "We are visa-free for most of the European, North American, Southeast Asian and some of the Pacific countries,” he said, adding, Kazakh Tourism is considering the possibility of increasing visa waivers for China and India to 120 hours from the current 70 hours. Sadvakassov said Kazakhstan is also keen on increasing air connectivity between Nur-Sultan and Tokyo, Europe, as well as Shanghai, to boost tourists arrivals from these markets. -- BERNAMA