Kazakhstan Looks to Boost Ski Tourism as PM Meets Global Industry Leader

On April 19, Kazakh Prime Minister Olzhas Bektenov met with PGI Management President Joan Viladomat to explore potential avenues for cooperation in developing ski tourism in Kazakhstan, particularly focusing on the Almaty cluster.

The meeting discussed global tourism trends and the industry’s increasing role in driving national economic growth, The Caspian Post reports citing Kazakh media.

Ski tourism was highlighted as a driver for the socio-economic development of mountainous regions and the broader economy, reports the Prime Minister’s press office.

Bektenov and Viladomat explored how Kazakhstan and PGI Management can turn the Almaty mountain cluster, which welcomes around two million visitors annually and supports 2,000 seasonal jobs, into a world-class, year-round tourism destination.

Its existing infrastructure, comprising 41 kilometers of ski runs and 16 lifts, offers a daily capacity of 6,000 visitors. However, the growing demand from both local and international tourists is surpassing the cluster’s capabilities and demands an updated national strategy on mountain tourism development.

According to projections, expanding the infrastructure to 227 kilometers of ski trails and 58 lifts would increase the cluster’s daily capacity by 5.6 times to 34,000 people. These upgrades are expected to generate 10,000 direct jobs and enable the Almaty mountain cluster to host up to 7.5 million tourists annually by 2029.

Officials also expect a ripple effect across the broader service and allied industries.

These efforts, Bektenov noted, are part of the government’s push to diversify the economy. The government sees the potential in the tourism industry to become a new driver of economic growth, alongside sectors such as manufacturing, digitalization, transport, and logistics.

Viladomat’s company completed over 120 projects worldwide. The lineup of the company’s projects includes Davos and St. Moritz in Switzerland, Courchevel in France, Ischgl and the Tyrol region in Austria, Vail and Aspen in the United States, Whistler-Blackcomb in Canada, and resorts in Andorra. In Andorra, a country with a population of just 80,000, the resorts welcomed 9.6 million visitors last year.

In an interview with The Astana Times, Deputy Minister of Tourism and Sports Yerzhan Yerkinbayev the development of the mountain cluster in Almaty as a top priority for 2025.