Kazakhstan introducing tourist fee for foreigners

Priority tourist areas will appear in Kazakhstan, Minister of Culture and Sports Aktota Raimkulova said, Report informs referring to Kazakh media.

She said that the main novelty of the draft law on tourism is the introduction of the concept of a priority tourist territory.

“Priority tourist territory is a territory with a special potential for tourist development, included in the list of objects of the republican tourist map. It is created to concentrate resources in the most promising points of tourism development. This territory will also have special privileges for investors and encouraging Kazakh citizens to opt for rest inside the country,” she said.

In addition, the introduction of a tourist fee from foreigners is proposed.

“Taking into account the world experience and in order to find additional sources of the local budget for the promotion of the regional tourist potential both in the domestic and foreign markets, it is envisaged to introduce a tourist fee and determine the operators for this tax. The rate of the tourist tax will be approved by the mayor’s offices, and the payment procedure - by the government,” the minister said.

As part of the bill, it is also planned to improve the regulatory policy in the field of tourism and bring it in line with the Entrepreneurial Code. These are such norms as splitting the license for tour operator activity into subspecies (in the field of outbound tourism, in the field of inbound and domestic tourism), as well as the regulation of preventive control without a visit, Raimkulova clarified.

“It is proposed to grant additional competences to the authorized and other state bodies in connection with the introduction of new measures of state support for the tourism sector, such as reimbursement of part of the costs of business entities in the construction of tourism facilities and roadside service facilities, reimbursement of part of the costs in the acquisition of vehicles for tourism purposes and equipment for development of ski resorts, as well as subsidizing tour operators for each imported foreign tourist as part of a tour package, subsidizing part of the costs of business entities for the maintenance of sanitary and hygienic facilities and reimbursement of the carriage charge for a plane ticket for children under 14 years old inclusive, traveling with their parents as part of a tour package,” she added.

According to the department's calculations, the introduction of these measures will help attract $310.8 million to the economy in the form of additional budget revenues, create more than 170,000 jobs and implement at least 1,000 projects.

“All these norms will have a positive effect in the development of the industry and become an effective mechanism for boosting investments, as well as achieving the main task of bringing the industry’s share in GDP to 8 percent (approximately $21.4 billion),” the minister summed up.