Domestic tourism in Kazakhstan: trends, opinions on problems and difficulties, development prospects

The purpose of the article is to study the state of the tourism industry in Kazakhstan, to show the problems that limit its development and to develop initiatives to achieve the competitiveness of the industry. The following were used: qualitative research method - expert interviews with specialists; quantitative method - statistical analysis of data, conducting a questionnaire survey, interviews with experts on the problems of the industry. Respondents positively assess the programs to support the tourism business. The growth of the competitiveness of the industry is shown; after the pandemic, domestic and inbound tourism indicators have recovered. However, the gross added value created in the tourism industries is quite small. The high cost of domestic travel is a consequence of the lack of competition in the tourism market. Seasonality is a serious limitation of domestic tourism. Most tourist sites are focused on a one-time visit, therefore, the return of tourists is low. A significant part of residents do not travel due to lack of financial opportunity. The relatively low level of income of the population does not allow spending money on travel. It is recommended to allocate more investment, digitalize the industry, create mobile applications for tourist sites.