News

Early June this year, Astana hosted the International Travel Conference with the focus on increasing tourism ties with India. At the event participants discussed possibilities of enhancing two-way tourist flow.

At the invitation of the Kazakh side, Mr. Mohammad N.Javed, Deputy Director General, Ministry of Tourism, Government of India, made a presentation on the Tourism Development Strategy in India, highlighting the Indian experience in elaboration of the Incredible India brand and logo.

He also spoke on УPromotion of the National Tourist Products, Organization of Travel Trains Palace on Wheels, Buddhist Tourist Train and Deccan OdysseyФ.

According to an article УKazakhstan wants a Palace on Wheels along Silk RouteФ by Neelam Mathews, IANS, the Kazakh officials are looking into possibilities of launching a luxury train, similar to Indian Palace on Wheels, along the Silk Road, which dates back over millennia.

The new luxury train will be a part of five tourism projects on Kazakhstan's list of priorities for which it has a budget exceeding $30 billion.

Mr. Javed told IANS that as part of the growing bilateral ties, a two-day road show will be held in Almaty this September to push the relationship further, especially in the hospitality sector.

At present, Kazakhstan receives around six million visitors a year with a target to grow to 10 million by upgrading its infrastructure over the next four years.

With business and tourism traffic between Kazakhstan and India expected to grow further in the near future, air connectivity is poised to increase rapidly. Air Astana, Kazakh National Carrier, plans to expand its services to India, from twice a week Almaty-Delhi-Almaty flights to thee flights a week this August. The professionally managed Air Astana was recently declared the fourth fastest growing airline in the world by Airline Business magazine.

It should be mentioned that Kazakh-Indian tourism ties are also encouraged by the Kazakh Embassy in New Delhi, which hold Kazakh-India Travel and Tourism Fair every year in the Indian capital, which brings together tour operators, hoteliers, investors and officials to launch new initiatives to spur interaction in the field, Kazinform refers to the Weekly News of the Embassy of the Republic of Kazakhstan in India.