Sustainable Destination Management
Strategies in the OIC Member Countries
137
initiatives Kazakhstan is testing now is an international flight from Tokyo – Astana, operated
by Sсat Airlines and subsidized by the government. Hotels are also becoming more affordable
in Kazakhstan due to competition. Moreover, since 2013, 140 new hotels were built for
Expo2017 in Astana. 3-4-star hotels in Almaty and Astana now offer fairly competitive prices
for tourists, including branded hotels, like Novotel, Holiday Inn, Best Western, Park Inn,
Windham, Hampton Court, and Hilton Garden. In general, due to exchange rates, traveling to
Kazakhstan is considered affordable by most people. Tourists can get accommodation, an
excursion, and meals for just 100 euros per day.499 The latest findings show that numerous
Kazakhstan airports have offered to switch to open sky mode, which will stimulate healthy
competition between airlines and ultimately affect carriers’ pricing policies. 500
Marketing strategies for the tourism corridor. Uzbekistan is still lacking a marketing
strategy for tourism development. An interview partner from GosComTourismmentioned that
the country needs a comprehensive marketing strategy to 2040 that answers the big question
– what the destination will do with its marketing until then and how Uzbekistan will position
itself on the world tourism map. The first step has been done, and since 2017, Mr. Sadik Barak,
a foreign advisor from Turkey (the former Deputy of the National Assembly of Turkey), is
working as a permanent advisor to GosComTourism and has already produced the document
Strategy 2030 .501
Until recently, the NTO of Kazakhstan has mostly been focusing on B2B using roadshows and
exhibitions for its promotional strategy, but there is still no real marketing strategy in use. Push
& Pull strategies can be mentioned in terms of: for pus h; it is to stimulate tour operators to
participate in roadshows and exhibitions, for pull, it is targeting the traveler with advertising
or through approaching tour operators in the visitor’s origin country.502
For DMOs, the marketing strategy is to use proven instruments such as participation in travel
fairs, different workshops, or roadshows in targeted countries. Familiarization trips are seen
to be among the best instruments for promoting certain DMO’s products and destinations. As
an example, the Silk Road Destinations DMO from Samarkand has been providing
familiarization trips consistently for six years, and every year they have four guaranteed
departures. Almost 50 travel professionals use this opportunity to visit Uzbekistan yearly and
learn how to sell the country’s travel products. For this purpose, within the familiarization trip
program, the DMO delivers a 3-hour workshop in Samarkand, and company experts all
participate. Over three hours, they answer as many questions as possible from their potential
partners on how to better sell Uzbekistan to the end-consumers. On the last familiarization trip
in August 2019, twelve people and three companies from Germany, one company from Italy,
and two companies from France participated. These countries served as the main markets for
this DMO. The famtrip strategy works well (15% yearly growth) for this particular DMO, and
they continually learn how to develop online marketing channels as well.503
Public Relations & Communications. The forthcoming Silk Visa alone may have an impact on
public relations. It’s a practical marketing instrument that can cause a huge news wave, and a
499 Interview with Deputy Chairman of the Board of Kazakh Tourism
500 "Kazakhstan Airports Offered to Switch to Open Sky Mode," last modified September 27, 2019,
501 Interview with Head of the Department of Scientific Research and Work with Educational Institutions of GosComTourism
502 Interview with Deputy Chairman of the Board of Kazakh Tourism
503 Interview with Director of Silk Road Destinations DMO