Kazakh Tourism has established its first-ever international tourism representation office worldwide by entering into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with India’s Salvia Promoters. This strategic move aims to significantly boost the number of tourists from India, with expectations to double the figures in 2024 compared to the previous year, following the inauguration of this pivotal office in India.
“India represents a crucial market for us, from which we anticipate doubling our tourist numbers in 2024. Following the implementation of a visa waiver program tailored for Indian travelers, we saw a threefold increase in tourist arrivals from India last year. Our goal is to welcome half a million visitors from India by 2026,” Kairat Sadvakassov, the Chairman of Kazakh Tourism National Company, remarked during the MoU signing event held at SATTE 2024 in Greater Noida recently.
Kazakhstan has facilitated easier access for Indian tourists by introducing a visa-free entry policy in 2022, leading to a significant uptick in Indian visitors, with approximately 100,000 tourists recorded in 2023.
Over the years, Salvia has represented several cities and countries of our region as a visa center and promotion office.
“For Kazakhstan’s tourism, this is a new step in international promotion. We are pleased that in India – one of the most promising outbound tourism markets in the world – we now have our representative. We plan to scale this experience to our other target markets», noted Kairat Sadvakassov.
“I am honoured to represent Kazakhstan Tourism in India. Kazakhstan is the world’s largest landlocked country with diverse landscapes, lively city life and rich archaeological history. “
With Visa free travel for Indian passport holders, and three airline options having direct flights from Delhi as well Mumbai to Almaty, Kazakhstan offers to be a great short haul destination for Indian travellers. Other than Almaty, Indian travelers are now also travelling to Astana, Shymkent, which just comes to show of the untapped enormous potential Kazakhstan holds» shared Prashant Chaudhary.
The agreement stipulates cooperation aimed at attracting tourist groups from India to Kazakhstan, as well as representing the interests of Kazakh Tourism in this significant outbound tourism market.
Prashant Chaudhary, Head, Salvia Promoters, has over 20 years of experience in promoting and marketing territories. He is a graduate of the Tashkent State Technical University and is fluent in Russian.
Furthermore, Chaudhary’s company annually organizes the arrival of Indian journalists to all its partner destinations. This, in turn, ensures significant coverage in leading Indian newspapers and travel-themed magazines.
The first joint activity was participation in the SATTE exhibition and the upcoming organization of Indian travel journalists’ visit to Kazakhstan in the first half of this year.
According to experts, by 2026, the Indian outbound tourism market is expected to reach more than 50 million tourists. Meanwhile, Prashant Chaudhary notes that by 2026, Kazakhstan could potentially be hosting up to 500,000 Indian tourists annually.