VisitAlmaty has developed a tourist product “Almaty 72”
The tourist information center of Almaty city has developed a new tourist product “Almaty72” – a project for tourists and travelers visiting Almaty for up to 72 hours or more. Every tourist arriving in Almaty receives a universal check-list – a recommended list of cases to get to know the city more closely. 72 hours are three days, which can be filled with unforgettable impressions in the city of a thousand colors. The check-list included the main attractions of Almaty: the Medeu ice rink, the Shymbulak ski resort, the Green Bazaar, museums, and other important places in the city. Tourists are also offered to taste the dishes of Kazakh national cuisine, try the Almaty aport and much more. The brochure is put in the traveler’s passport when crossing the border customs control, which provides 100% coverage of all foreign tourists. In addition to the airport, the check-list is distributed absolutely free of charge at railway stations, information stands VisitAlmaty and in more than 40 points of the center’s partners in three languages.
In less than a year of its existence, VisitAlmaty has become a tourist attraction point and a point of distribution of useful information about the stay, services and events of the city. The tourist information center, created under the Department of Tourism and Foreign Relations of Almaty, is organized according to the DMO (Destination Management Organization) standards. Its tasks include promoting the tourist potential of the city and attracting tourists. In addition, VisitAlmaty is a research center in the field of tourism.
Kamila Lukpanova, director of TIC VisitAlmaty: “In 2017, we conducted a study of competitiveness and prospects for the development of tourism in Almaty. The result was the development of a project called “100 steps”, which developed a set of recommendations and specific actions for all players of the tourism market. These are the successive steps that are necessary for the development of tourism, from the development of a marketing plan for the promotion of Almaty, to the improvement of the service of the airport, railway and bus stations. We carried out a full inventory of more than 30,000 tourist sites in Almaty and Almaty metropolitan area, and added them to the database. We studied the world ratings, we take over the experience of developed tourist destinations. Among the main achievements of 2017 were the VisitAlmaty partnership with the UNWTO (World Tourism Organization), the launch of the Almaty promotional campaign on the air with Euronews, Eurosport and BBC with coverage of more than 50 million viewers and a number of marketing steps to promote Almaty as a destination. ”
In 2017, VisitAlmaty carried out work to promote Almaty as an international tourist destination – the site was launched visitalmaty.kz, accounts in social networks were opened where travelers can get useful information about the city and its sights. On the basis of the site, a single event calendar was created, so that Almaty residents and tourists would learn about interesting city events. VisitAlmaty started cooperation with the famous international platform for travelers TripAdvisor, and now tourists from all over the world can get reliable information about accommodation in Almaty, restaurant ratings and all kinds of entertainment.
In 2017 VisitAlmaty received participants of international press and blog tours – foreign journalists and opinion leaders, materials about the tourist potential of Almaty appeared in Forbes and other influential media. In addition, the Info Center launched new useful services for travelers and tourists. These are free maps, travel guides, rental of routers with wifi function, so that tourists are always on call.
In 2018 the VisitAlmaty team will continue work on the implementation of the Almaty promotion strategy and the development of a unique city offer for tourists. It is planned to hold several large-scale events, participation of the visit center with the Almaty brand in international exhibitions and road shows, launch of the corporate version of the site.
Aigul Aliyasova
Communications Manager
www.visitalmaty.kz