BAKU, Azerbaijan, June 9. Authorities in Kazakhstan have been instructed to increase the number of flights and railway seats to popular domestic tourist destinations, Prime Minister Olzhas Bektenov said at a government meeting, Trend reports via the Kazakh government.
“Requests are being received from the public regarding limited transport accessibility to popular and remote tourist destinations. There are concerns about shortages and the affordability of air and rail tickets,” Bektenov said at the meeting.
He directed the Ministry of Transport, together with airlines and the national railway operator Kazakhstan Temir Zholy, to expand flight frequencies and passenger capacity on high-demand routes at affordable prices.
Bektenov also highlighted safety risks during the summer tourism season, saying emergency services must operate in an enhanced readiness mode.
“At this stage of the summer tourist season, all regional administrations and ministries must take additional preventive measures to ensure the safety of vacationers. Emergency response services should already be under heightened monitoring,” he said.
He called for stronger public awareness campaigns on water safety and fire prevention, as well as greater involvement of volunteers in outreach activities.
The prime minister further stressed the need to improve tourism infrastructure, including multilingual navigation signage, sanitation standards at recreational areas, and better coordination between responsible agencies.
“All recreation areas, parks and beaches must have proper information signs, schemes and routes in different languages. Cleanliness and sanitary compliance must be ensured,” Bektenov said, adding that an operational coordination headquarters would oversee implementation.
Separately, Bektenov said major tourism infrastructure projects, including the Almaty SuperSki mountain resort, must be completed on time.
“Construction work is already underway. It must be implemented efficiently and completed within the set deadlines,” he said.
He noted that the number of eco-tourists in Kazakhstan exceeded 3.6 million in 2025, reflecting growing demand for nature-based travel destinations.
Meanwhile, Minister of Internal Affairs Yerzhan Sadenov said Kazakhstan continues to ease entry and stay procedures for foreign visitors to support tourism growth. Citizens of 105 countries can obtain electronic visas without visiting embassies, while Digital Nomad and Neo Nomad visa regimes are also in place, with arrival notifications handled online.
According to Minister of Transport Nurlan Sauranbayev, road works this year cover 11,000 kilometers of public highways, including routes leading to key tourist areas such as Rakhman Springs, Kenderli, Bayanaul, Zerenda and Kolsai.
Data from the Bureau of National Statistics of Kazakhstan shows that 661.2 million passengers were transported by the country's transport in January–April 2026, an increase of 8.7% compared with the same period in 2025. Air transport carried 4.5 million passengers in January–April 2026, up 2.7% year-on-year. Passenger turnover increased by 9.1% to 9.5 billion passenger-kilometers, reflecting longer average trip distances and rising demand for air travel.
Passenger transportation and passenger turnover in road transport and urban electric transport rose by 8.9% and 3.5%, respectively, over the period.
The government’s focus on transport capacity and infrastructure expansion signals an effort to address seasonal bottlenecks that typically emerge during peak summer travel. If implemented as planned, increased rail and air connectivity could ease price pressure on popular domestic routes, while improved road access is likely to support a broader geographic spread of tourist flows beyond established destinations.
At the same time, continued simplification of visa regimes may gradually increase inbound tourism, though sector growth will likely remain dependent on infrastructure readiness and service quality across regional destinations.
