Conclusion

Tourism is a huge source of the arrival income in budget of the countries all over the world. With reception of independence, the republic of Kazakhstan has opened greater prospects in development of the tourism industry. It is extremely important for the both government and local travel agencies to understand destination choice behavior of the citizens in order to meet potential customers’ needs and to increase the economy of the country.

The main goal of the current study was to find out what destinations attract Almaty residents and what factors mostly affect their choice. It was hypothesized that youth is more likely than elderly people to travel abroad and that accommodation comfort is the major factor that influences their destination choice. The data used in this study was drawn from the online questionnaire distributed among 108 Almaty residents with various ages: 16-25, 26-50, and above 50 years. Additionally, a semi-structured interview with a manager of Uni Travel agency was undertaken in order to strengthen quantitative data. The results showed that the most highly-demanded journey destinations are America and some European countries, especially Turkey. It was also found that both sightseeing opportunities and accommodation comfort play an important role for the Almaty residents’ destination choice.

High demand for sightseeing opportunities is explained by the expression of interest to study the history and culture of current location. This finding is confirmed by studies of Joseph and Dogan (2001) and LaMondia et al. (2009), which reported that visiting historically significant places is one of the main criteria that people pay attention to. Zulkifli et al. (2009) also support this finding by providing an example of Arab tourists who include sightseeing to their daily activities. As emotional and physical satisfaction might be reached by an appropriate level of accommodation comfort, this finding viewed as a prerequisite for tourism. Lohmann and Beer (2013) and Zulkifli et al. (2009) emphasized that a certain place might not become a potential destination for tourists without comfortable accommodation. From the overall implications of this study, it could be concluded that the improvement of accommodation comfort and promotion of activities that allow people to visit historically interesting places of Kazakhstan may lead to increase of inbound tourism. Acquired data should also be used by local tourist agencies in order to supplement their work and develop outbound tourism. In other words, all the above-mentioned information should support one other to improve all types of services provided to the tourists.

Republic of Kazakhstan is young, but quickly developing country. In atmosphere of continuous work and pressure for constantly developing and changing economy the tourism is really important aspect. Moreover, tourist industry helps to create peace and stability in developing countries by providing people with jobs, diversifying local economies, promoting cross-cultural awareness among other benefits such as the country being recognized by other more powerful countries. In developed countries, tourism brings a significant income; therefore for Kazakhstan it is extremely important to develop tourism industry for creating a bright future for our economy.

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Appendix A: Questionnaire

1. What is your age?

1. 16-25

2. 26-50

3. 50+

2. What is your sex?

1. Male

2. Female

3. Do you travel? (If you selected “No”, go to the last question)

1. Yes

2. No

4. What type of holiday do you take most regularly?

1. Nature trips

2. Sightseeing trips (e.g. visiting historical places)

3. Business trips

4. Sun holidays (e.g. by the sea)

5. Local holidays (within Kazakhstan)

6. Other

5. Who do you usually go with?

1. Alone

2. Partner/spouse

3. Family

4. Friends

6. Where do you prefer to go? (Please, tick 3 boxes only)

1. Kazakhstan

2. Eastern Europe

3. Western Europe

4. Eastern Asia

5. Western Asia

6. America

7. Africa

8. Australia

7. Which of the below mentioned factors affect your travel destination choice?

1. Sightseeing opportunities (places of interest)

2. Climate

3. Accommodation comfort

4. Food/beverages

5. Quality of service

6. Cost

7. Entertainment

8. How do you rate the quality of local vacation destination? (in Kazakhstan)

1. Very good

2. Good

3. Adequate

4. Poor

5. Very poor

9. Based on the previous question, please briefly give the reason why did you rate it so?

_____________________________________________________________________

10. What prevents you from going to the place of your dream?

1. Money

2. Political situation

3. Living conditions

4. Distance

5. Visa issue

6. Other

7. Nothing

Appendix B: Interview

1. How many years have you been working in this sphere?

2. How old is travel agency?

3. What age group do you usually serve?

4. What types of holiday do tourists usually choose?

5. Who do they usually go with?

6. Where do the majority of Almaty residents go to? Why?

7. What percentage or how many of them go to this particular place?

8. What factors mostly affect their destination choice?

9. Is the industry of local tourism developed enough? If no or yes, why?

The interview was semi-structured, thus some sub questions were asked in order to bring a better clarification of the needed information.

SUBJECT INFORMATION AND INFORMED CONSENT

Study Title: Travelling Preferences of Almaty Residents

Investigator(s): Alibek Abdygapparov, KIMEP University, BACTA13-6 alibek.abdygapparov@kimep.kz.

Purpose:

The purpose of this research study is to learn what destinations Almaty residents choose where they spend their vacations and what affect their choices.

Procedures:

If you agree to take part in this research study, you will be given a questionnaire. It will take about 10-15 minutes to complete the survey. You will also be asked to be interviewed. The interview will take place at any place that is convenient for you. It will approximately last for 30-40 minutes.

Risks/Discomforts:

There is no anticipated discomfort for those contributing to this study, so risk to participants is minimal.

Benefits:

Although you may not benefit from taking part in this study, the results of the study may be used for recommendations for travel agencies.

Confidentiality:

Your records will be kept confidential and will not be released without your consent except as required by law.

Your identity will be kept private.

However, if you want to be identified by name in the publication, please indicate your initials ­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­____________________.

Contact information of research supervisor:

Sara Osman, s.osman@kimep.kz, tel: 270-43-71 ext. 2666