Tourism Potential

KEY TOURISM INDICATORS OF ALMATY

(January–September 2025)

Total tourist flow: 1,869,375 visitors

Residents (domestic tourism): 1,306,000 (69.9%)

International tourists (non-residents): 563,300 (30.1%)

Infrastructure: 375 accommodation facilities (8.3% of all facilities in Kazakhstan)

Room inventory: 12,340 rooms

Simultaneous capacity: 30,724 beds

ECONOMIC IMPACT

Volume of services provided: KZT 82.4 billion

Almaty’s share in the national service volume: 30.8%

Average cost per bed-night: KZT 27,720

VISITOR PROFILE & PREFERENCES

Top source markets: Russia (124.2 thousand), China (102.1 thousand), India (85.6 thousand), and Turkey (28.7 thousand).

PURPOSE OF VISIT

Personal travel: 63.4%

Business and professional travel: 36.6%

Length of stay: 88.7% of visitors stay overnight

Accommodation choice: The majority (61%) choose non-classified hotels.

International visitors prefer 3–5-star hotels, accounting for approximately 55% of guests in this segment.

TERRITORIAL DISTRIBUTION

Medeu District: Leader in the number of hotels with restaurants (29) and luxury-class properties (5-star and 4-star) – 5 properties.

Almaly and Bostandyk Districts: Business activity hubs with the highest concentration of personnel (over 3,200 employees combined).

Nauryzbay District: The smallest number of facilities (12), but the highest staff-to-property ratio (an average of 35 employees per facility).

INVESTMENT

Investment in fixed capital of the sector reached KZT 113.2 billion in the first 9 months of 2025 (a 47.4% increase year-on-year).

According to other estimates, the figure reached KZT 171.6 billion over 11 months.

NEW OPENINGS

Between 46 and 48 new facilities were commissioned through private investment, including:

18 hotels, 21 hostels

Glamping sites, recreation centers, and the first capsule hotel

Pipeline: Projects for an additional 58 hotels with a total of 6,794 rooms are currently under development.

INFRASTRUCTURE & EXPERIENCE DEVELOPMENT

The city continues to actively invest in enhancing the tourist experience:

Mountain cluster: The Almarasan thermal spring has been reconstructed; 10 mountain trails (approximately 100 km) have been improved; and 3 camping zones equipped with solar panels for device charging have been created.

Digitalization: An audio guide covering 110 sites and 10 key city routes has been launched.

MICE & events: Almaty has officially obtained World Craft City status, strengthening its position as a center for event-based and ethno-cultural tourism.

INTERNATIONAL RECOGNITION & AIR CONNECTIVITY

Global marketing: The city participated in 9 major international exhibitions, signing 270 agreements aimed at attracting approximately 224,000 foreign tourists.

Air connectivity: Almaty is connected by direct flights to 60 cities worldwide. In 2025 alone, 13 new air routes were launched.

Rankings: In 2025, the city was featured in CNN recommendations, while The Telegraph described it as the “Pearl of Central Asia.” Bloomberg included Almaty in its Top 25 destinations for 2026.

PERFORMANCE BENCHMARKING (COMPETITIVE ENVIRONMENT)

Hotel occupancy: In the first half of 2025, the national average occupancy rate in Kazakhstan reached 58.2%. In Almaty’s premium segment (5-star hotels), occupancy peaked at 67.6% during high seasons.

Revenue per available room (RevPAR): The national average increased by 6.5% to $67.54, comparable to neighboring Kyrgyzstan ($65.08).

ANALYTICAL NOTE

A clear trend toward sector formalization and increasing economic significance is observed: in the first half of 2025, the gross value added (GVA) of the tourism sector reached KZT 559.3 billion — nearly double the figure for the same period last year.

This positions tourism as one of the fastest-growing drivers of Almaty’s economy.