Travel, Hospitality and
MICE Committee Report
Ibrahim Canliel
Chairperson, Travel, Hospitality and MICE Committee
Hospitality is the widest represented industry in
EUROBAK. The key stakeholders include hotels, travel
agencies, tour operators, restaurants, airlines and other
service providers.
Aligned with the "Third Modernization of Kazakhstan:
Global Competitiveness”, specific emphasis has been
placed on the development of inbound tourism and
the development of the transit traffic of Eurasia
via Kazakhstan. The industry is labour intensive and
therefore its growth provides opportunities for creating a
significant increase in employment. While the momentum
of the government is strong, it is crucial that hospitality
industry professionals engage in defining policies and
priorities and represent the stakeholders that deliver the
services and ultimately benefit from it.
With these above objective in mind, the Travel, Hospitality
and MICE (THM) Committee was established in 2017.
The members of the THM Committee were elected
from a group of hospitality industry professionals who
are experienced and particularly active in promoting
Kazakhstan as a destination and thereby are well aware
of the challenges the industry faces.
Upon its establishment, stakeholders of the hospitality
industry faced an immediate threat caused by new
legislation that took force as of January 01st 2017.
The group visa processing periods were extended up
to three weeks paralysing the industry’s ability to host
groups, particularly MICE, from foreign countries and
jeopardizing the strong forward bookings of this and
following years that had come as result of extensive
promotion activities invested by hoteliers,
operators, resort operators and airlines.
tour
The matter escalated through the Board to the Prime
Minister and successfully resolved to the relief of all
stakeholders of the industry.
In the forthcoming period the committee aims to:
• Increase awareness regarding inbound tourism and
particularly MICE.
• Align efforts of numerous agents acting independently
for a more effective tourism promotion plan.
• Work with the government to engage with tourism
development strategy and closely follow up its
implementation.
• Ensure that non-value adding bureaucracy for the
industry and foreign visitors is addressed and avoided.
The THM works closely with the Prime Minister and the
Cabinet, Ministry of Culture and Tourism, Ministry of
Investments and Development, tourism associations and
all agencies involved in the promotion of Kazakhstan’s
Tourism Development Strategy.
I encourage all of our members to contribute to these
discussions, both through attendance of THM meetings
through the year and by contacting the EUROBAK team
with any issues you would like to see addressed, striving
to enhance Kazakhstan’s international perception, for the
benefit of all members.