EUROBAK Committees 2017-2018 | Page 28

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.