KITF 2009 Exhibition was opened by Mr. Serik Turarovich Seidumanov– Deputy Akim (Administrator) of Almaty City, Mr. Yevgeniy Sergeevich Nikitinskiy– Chairperson of the Committee for Industry and Tourism, Ministry of Tourism and Sports of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Mr. Yuri Borodikhin – Executive Director of “Iteca” exhibition company, ambassadors extraordinary and plenipotentiary, commercial attaches and representatives of diplomatic missions of exhibiting countries and also heads of the 17 National Tourism Organisations presented at KITF.
“Almaty holds an important and good position on the Eurasian continent, and is one of the transit points of the Great Silk Way and has huge potentialities for the future development and improvement of tourism industry of Kazakhstan. There are more than 830 tourist organisations in Kazakhstan and more than 4000 people work there. According to the estimation made by specialists the city can receive more than 800.000 guests annually. That is why I am very glad that Almaty invites participants of KITF exhibition, which is the biggest tourist event in Kazakhstan and Central Asia”, says Mr. Serik Turarovich Seidumanov, Deputy Akim (Administrator) of Almaty City.
Mr. Yevgeniy Sergeevich Nikitinskiy noted the significance of the event with the following words: “It has already become a good tradition to welcome the guests of the International Tourism Fair at the hospitable land if Kazakhstan. It is for the ninth time for Almaty to play host to the International Tourism Fair where all regions of Kazakhstan display their favorable internal opportunities for tourism development and familiarize the guests with the national and foreign travel companies. I am very glad that from year to year the fair has been growing in popularity among the tourism professionals from Kazakhstan, Central Asian and European countries.
Organisers of the event, Ministry of Tourism and Sports of the Republic of Kazakhstan and exhibition companies ITE Group Plc (UK) and Iteca (Kazakhstan), note a qualitative growth of KITF 2009. This year, they involved several hundreds of companies from 37 countries in the Kazakhstan fair and organised a demonstration of national tourist companies from 17 countries. As a reminder, in 2008 KITF presented 34 countries. This year, the total exhibition area was more than 8,000 square metres. During its three days, the event was attended by more than 6,500 specialists of the tourist business and associated areas. As early as on Day One, visitors – including representatives of travel firms and just travellers – were carrying heavy bags filled with booklets and handouts about world and domestic resorts, recreation areas and health centres. To present their products with a national touch, a lot of delegations brought costumes, musical instruments and traditional dishes and drinks to Almaty.
“The national stand of Malaysia involved seven tour companies – almost all major operators working in the CIS market. We all were very pleased with the results of KITF 2009. As compared with other exhibitions, we believe that the results of the first two days of the Kazakhstan exhibition surpassed even those held in Moscow – MITT and ITM (Intourmarket). For example, during those Russian events this year, each of us had contacts with 150 representatives of travel firms per day on average. Here in Almaty, we made the same number of travel firms within a few hours after the exhibition opened. It was our pleasure to see our partners who came to Almaty from different regions of Kazakhstan to see us and discuss various issues for the oncoming tourist season. As far as the KITF stand design is concerned, I think that it surpasses the Ukrainian exhibition by 60%. I would like to make a special note of a high degree of competence and proficiency of tourists who attended our stand”, says Nina Aisabakiyeva, Sales and Marketing Director for the CIS Countries, Sunflower Holidays SDN BHD (Malaysia).
Six countries were announced as new destinations for the Kazakhstanis. First-timers included companies from Australia, Mexico, Japan, Jordan, Poland, and Slovakia. The latter three countries were for the first time represented by official government stands where national travel organisations presented their countries.
Visitors swarmed not only around stands presenting famous resorts of Turkey, Malaysia, India, China, Greece, UAE and other countries but also around sections of the Kazakhstani tourists. This interest is also enhanced by official statistics. Yevgeniy Nikitinskiy, Chairperson of the Committee for Industry and Tourism, Ministry of Tourism and Sports of the Republic of Kazakhstan, said at the press conference that this sector – unlike the other ones – is being quickly revived in spite of natural and man-caused disasters and crises.
In the Strategy of development of Kazakhstan 2030 Tourism industry has been recognised as a priority sector of the Economy. In 2008 according to the statistics the main figures of tourism industry development saw an impressive increase compared to the previous year. The Kazakhstani tourists continue to travel to other countries: outbound tourism grew by 15,3 %, last year, domestic travel increased by 8.2 % and reached 4.2 million people, the total number of tourism organisations increased by 16%.
Presentation of our country became the keynote of KITF 2009 as Kazakhstan is going to host the 18th UNWTO (UN World Tourism Organization) General Assembly in Astana. Kazakhstan became the first former Soviet republic to have such honour, which will undoubtedly provide a real opportunity to claim to be a major tourist hub. According to Yevgeniy Nikitinskiy, this year is a landmark for the national tourist industry. In October, Astana is going to host heads of tourism ministries and agencies from 154 UNWTO member countries, and all events are being held in view of the forthcoming global forum. The busy agenda of KITF 2009 included presentations, workshops, quizzes (e.g.,a trip to Baikonur Space Launching Site was raffled off), and other entertainment and festive events for visitors and participants, scheduled by hours. Notably, the workshops had a lot of presentations from tour operators of China, Greece, Thailand and Switzerland.
The authority of the event was consolidated by the official support from the Ministry of Tourism and Sports of the Republic of Kazakhstan, UNWTO, Almaty City Akimat, as well as diplomatic missions accredited in Kazakhstan and leading specialised and socio-political mass media of Kazakhstan, CIS and far-abroad nations.
Main results of the exhibition included new acquaintances, contacts and contracts signed between tour operators and representatives of the hotel business and health centres and resorts. For residents of Almaty, this is an opportunity to plan their rest for the new tourist season.
KITF 2009 Fact Sheet:
• 68% of exhibitors signed sales contracts during the exhibition;
• 39% of exhibitors said in their questionnaires that their stand was attended by 50 to 100 specialists per day, 31% – 100 to 200 specialists, 21% – 200 to 500 specialists, and 9% – more than 500 specialists per day;
• a total of 6,566 visitors were registered during the three days – an 18% growth against the previous year;
• almost all visitors specified several purposes of their visit to KITF 2009 in their questionnaires. The five most common purposes included:
1. establish new business contacts (95%),
2. sign contracts on purchase of tourist products/services (83%),
3. maintain existing business contacts (76%),
4. look for tour operators / travel agencies (55%),
5. evaluate the market capacity (30%);
• 47% of visitors polled said they had attended KITF workshops;
• 96% of visitors said in their questionnaires that they annually visit the exhibition and plan to come to the next year’s KITF.
The next year’s KITF will be held in Almaty on 21-23 April 2010.
“Almaty holds an important and good position on the Eurasian continent, and is one of the transit points of the Great Silk Way and has huge potentialities for the future development and improvement of tourism industry of Kazakhstan. There are more than 830 tourist organisations in Kazakhstan and more than 4000 people work there. According to the estimation made by specialists the city can receive more than 800.000 guests annually. That is why I am very glad that Almaty invites participants of KITF exhibition, which is the biggest tourist event in Kazakhstan and Central Asia”, says Mr. Serik Turarovich Seidumanov, Deputy Akim (Administrator) of Almaty City.
Mr. Yevgeniy Sergeevich Nikitinskiy noted the significance of the event with the following words: “It has already become a good tradition to welcome the guests of the International Tourism Fair at the hospitable land if Kazakhstan. It is for the ninth time for Almaty to play host to the International Tourism Fair where all regions of Kazakhstan display their favorable internal opportunities for tourism development and familiarize the guests with the national and foreign travel companies. I am very glad that from year to year the fair has been growing in popularity among the tourism professionals from Kazakhstan, Central Asian and European countries.
Organisers of the event, Ministry of Tourism and Sports of the Republic of Kazakhstan and exhibition companies ITE Group Plc (UK) and Iteca (Kazakhstan), note a qualitative growth of KITF 2009. This year, they involved several hundreds of companies from 37 countries in the Kazakhstan fair and organised a demonstration of national tourist companies from 17 countries. As a reminder, in 2008 KITF presented 34 countries. This year, the total exhibition area was more than 8,000 square metres. During its three days, the event was attended by more than 6,500 specialists of the tourist business and associated areas. As early as on Day One, visitors – including representatives of travel firms and just travellers – were carrying heavy bags filled with booklets and handouts about world and domestic resorts, recreation areas and health centres. To present their products with a national touch, a lot of delegations brought costumes, musical instruments and traditional dishes and drinks to Almaty.
“The national stand of Malaysia involved seven tour companies – almost all major operators working in the CIS market. We all were very pleased with the results of KITF 2009. As compared with other exhibitions, we believe that the results of the first two days of the Kazakhstan exhibition surpassed even those held in Moscow – MITT and ITM (Intourmarket). For example, during those Russian events this year, each of us had contacts with 150 representatives of travel firms per day on average. Here in Almaty, we made the same number of travel firms within a few hours after the exhibition opened. It was our pleasure to see our partners who came to Almaty from different regions of Kazakhstan to see us and discuss various issues for the oncoming tourist season. As far as the KITF stand design is concerned, I think that it surpasses the Ukrainian exhibition by 60%. I would like to make a special note of a high degree of competence and proficiency of tourists who attended our stand”, says Nina Aisabakiyeva, Sales and Marketing Director for the CIS Countries, Sunflower Holidays SDN BHD (Malaysia).
Six countries were announced as new destinations for the Kazakhstanis. First-timers included companies from Australia, Mexico, Japan, Jordan, Poland, and Slovakia. The latter three countries were for the first time represented by official government stands where national travel organisations presented their countries.
Visitors swarmed not only around stands presenting famous resorts of Turkey, Malaysia, India, China, Greece, UAE and other countries but also around sections of the Kazakhstani tourists. This interest is also enhanced by official statistics. Yevgeniy Nikitinskiy, Chairperson of the Committee for Industry and Tourism, Ministry of Tourism and Sports of the Republic of Kazakhstan, said at the press conference that this sector – unlike the other ones – is being quickly revived in spite of natural and man-caused disasters and crises.
In the Strategy of development of Kazakhstan 2030 Tourism industry has been recognised as a priority sector of the Economy. In 2008 according to the statistics the main figures of tourism industry development saw an impressive increase compared to the previous year. The Kazakhstani tourists continue to travel to other countries: outbound tourism grew by 15,3 %, last year, domestic travel increased by 8.2 % and reached 4.2 million people, the total number of tourism organisations increased by 16%.
Presentation of our country became the keynote of KITF 2009 as Kazakhstan is going to host the 18th UNWTO (UN World Tourism Organization) General Assembly in Astana. Kazakhstan became the first former Soviet republic to have such honour, which will undoubtedly provide a real opportunity to claim to be a major tourist hub. According to Yevgeniy Nikitinskiy, this year is a landmark for the national tourist industry. In October, Astana is going to host heads of tourism ministries and agencies from 154 UNWTO member countries, and all events are being held in view of the forthcoming global forum. The busy agenda of KITF 2009 included presentations, workshops, quizzes (e.g.,a trip to Baikonur Space Launching Site was raffled off), and other entertainment and festive events for visitors and participants, scheduled by hours. Notably, the workshops had a lot of presentations from tour operators of China, Greece, Thailand and Switzerland.
The authority of the event was consolidated by the official support from the Ministry of Tourism and Sports of the Republic of Kazakhstan, UNWTO, Almaty City Akimat, as well as diplomatic missions accredited in Kazakhstan and leading specialised and socio-political mass media of Kazakhstan, CIS and far-abroad nations.
Main results of the exhibition included new acquaintances, contacts and contracts signed between tour operators and representatives of the hotel business and health centres and resorts. For residents of Almaty, this is an opportunity to plan their rest for the new tourist season.
KITF 2009 Fact Sheet:
• 68% of exhibitors signed sales contracts during the exhibition;
• 39% of exhibitors said in their questionnaires that their stand was attended by 50 to 100 specialists per day, 31% – 100 to 200 specialists, 21% – 200 to 500 specialists, and 9% – more than 500 specialists per day;
• a total of 6,566 visitors were registered during the three days – an 18% growth against the previous year;
• almost all visitors specified several purposes of their visit to KITF 2009 in their questionnaires. The five most common purposes included:
1. establish new business contacts (95%),
2. sign contracts on purchase of tourist products/services (83%),
3. maintain existing business contacts (76%),
4. look for tour operators / travel agencies (55%),
5. evaluate the market capacity (30%);
• 47% of visitors polled said they had attended KITF workshops;
• 96% of visitors said in their questionnaires that they annually visit the exhibition and plan to come to the next year’s KITF.
The next year’s KITF will be held in Almaty on 21-23 April 2010.
Date:
Friday, May 29, 2009
