The global barriers to tourism development: a scoping review of Kazakhstan

Purpose Kazakhstan possesses a rich natural and cultural heritage, offering potential for tourism development. Although tourism flows had been heavily dependent on domestic tourism until the mid-2010s, the country began adopting strategies and programs to position the tourism industry as one of the country's economically prominent sectors. All these elements are considered crucial for tourism competitiveness. However, Kazakhstan still faces problems with a skilled workforce, transportation, and infrastructure. Accordingly, this study aims to review the research contributions on the tourism development barriers experienced in Kazakhstan and already faced globally, including the following: (1) economic barriers, (2) environmental barriers, (3) governance, policies and tools, (4) new political economy, (5) socio-cultural barriers, and (6) technological barriers. Design/methodology/approach A search of journals indexed in Scopus, and published up to January 2026, revealed 136 articles for review. This paper presents a scoping review of them. Findings The findings demonstrate that all barriers are intertwined. Among the main themes representing development barriers; economic factors and governance were highly prominent in the studies. The results highlight that the lack of infrastructure, fragmented coordination among stakeholders and policy and tourism development plan shortcomings are the main underlying barriers. Originality/value This study provides a comprehensive overview of the issues highlighted in regional and nationwide studies on Kazakhstan and reveals the reflection of global tourism barriers in the country.