DESTINATION/ Kazakhstan: Ancient and Poetic

Kazakhstan, the 9th largest country in the world, having a rich history of nomadic civilizations, a large natural diversity and being a part of the famous Silk Road, still attracts few tourists from around the world. How come? Challenges The low number of visitors has clear reasons. First of all, Kazakhstan has two neighbors that are promoting their tourism offer quite effectively and have a very distinct brand: Uzbekistan, taking advantage of its rich past with historical and recently reno...

On the world’s tourism map Kazakhstan, despite its large size, is only a small spot as an incoming tourism destination. The majority of the country’s tourism sights and destinations suffer from little awareness, lack of infrastructure, limited accommodation availability, inconsistent service quality and pricing. However, with the country’s rapidly growing economic power this is starting to change as the tourism is benefiting from large government and private investments. In ...

Almaty has perhaps one of the most striking and beautiful locations of any city in the world. Located in the spectacular foothills of the Zilishkiy Alatau Mountains, Almaty is a pleasant city to live in, vibrant, green, and with thriving cosmopolitan culture. The impressive mountains are only half an hour’s drive from the city center. Almaty’s population is 1.5 million. The name Almaty comes from the Kazakh word 'alma', which means 'apple'. It used to be claimed that Almaty was ho...

The Baikonur Cosmodrome, the world's first and largest operational space launch facility, situated in the middle of Kazakhstan’s steppes had tremendous historic significance. It was the launch pad for a whole new chapter of civilization. In 2000, from June 2 to 4, the 45th anniversary of Baikonur cosmodrome was celebrated with great fanfare. The location of the base of Soviet space program was of prime strategic importance, and after much consideration, an ideal spot was found in the vast ste...

Turkistan – a sacred place, a place of worship and pilgrimage for Muslims, one of the oldest cities in the world. It has a population of 85,600 and is situated 160 km (100 miles) north-west of Shymkent on the Trans-Aral Railway between Kyzylorda to the north and Tashkent to the south. The site of ancient settlement Turkistan is an important archeological monument of the urban culture of South Kazakhstan. The major role this town played in the Late Middle Ages in Kazakhstan is widely kno...