Editing Kazakhstan (section)

=== Tourism ===
{{Main|Tourism in Kazakhstan}}
[[File:Казахстан. Боровое, вид с Болектау, осень, вечер.jpg|thumb|[[Lake Burabay]], view from Mount Bolectau]]
[[File:Верхняя точка горнолыжной трассы курорта Чимбулак..JPG|thumb|[[Shymbulak]] ski resort in Almaty]]

Kazakhstan is the [[List of countries and dependencies by area|ninth-largest country by area]] and the largest landlocked country in the world. As of 2014, tourism accounted for 0.3 percent of Kazakhstan's GDP, but the government had plans to increase it to 3 percent by 2020.<ref name="theguardian1">{{cite web |author=Joanna Lillis for EurasiaNet, part of the New East |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jul/17/kazakhstan-eases-visa-restrictions-attract-tourists |title=Summer holiday in Kazakhstan? Astana eases visa restrictions to attract tourists &#124; World news |work=The Guardian |date=17 July 2014 |access-date=18 November 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190503182321/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jul/17/kazakhstan-eases-visa-restrictions-attract-tourists |archive-date=3 May 2019 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.eurasianet.org/node/68601 |title=Kazakhstan: Astana Announces Visa-Free Travel for 10 High-Investing States |publisher=EurasiaNet.org |date=16 June 2014 |access-date=18 November 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151117123606/http://www.eurasianet.org/node/68601 |archive-date=17 November 2015 |url-status=live }}</ref> According to the [[World Economic Forum]]'s [[Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Report]] of 2017, travel and tourism industry GDP in Kazakhstan was $3.08&nbsp;billion or only 1.6 percent of total GDP. The WEF ranked Kazakhstan 80th in its 2019 report.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://wef.ch/3129pen|title=Rankings|access-date=19 November 2020|archive-date=25 September 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190925161646/https://wef.ch/3129pen|url-status=live}}</ref>

In 2017, Kazakhstan ranked 43rd in the number of tourist arrivals. In 2014, ''[[The Guardian]]'' described tourism in Kazakhstan as "hugely underdeveloped," despite the country's mountain, lake, and desert landscapes.<ref name=Lillis /> Factors hampering an increase in tourism were said to include high prices, "shabby infrastructure," "poor service," and the difficulties of travel in a large underdeveloped country.<ref name=Lillis /> Even for Kazakhs, going for a holiday abroad may cost only half the price of taking a holiday in Kazakhstan.<ref name=Lillis>{{cite news|last1=Lillis|first1=Joanna|title=Summer holiday in Kazakhstan? Astana eases visa restrictions to attract tourists|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jul/17/kazakhstan-eases-visa-restrictions-attract-tourists|access-date=11 December 2015|newspaper=[[The Guardian]]|date=17 July 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190503182321/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jul/17/kazakhstan-eases-visa-restrictions-attract-tourists|archive-date=3 May 2019|url-status=live}}</ref>

The [[#Government and politics|Kazakh government]], long characterised as authoritarian with a history of human rights abuses and suppression of political opposition,<ref name="time" /> in 2015 issued a "Tourism Industry Development Plan 2020." It aimed to establish five tourism clusters in Kazakhstan: [[Astana]] city, [[Almaty]] city, [[East Kazakhstan Region|East Kazakhstan]], [[South Kazakhstan Region|South Kazakhstan]], and [[West Kazakhstan Region|West Kazakhstan]] Oblasts. It also sought investment of $4&nbsp;billion and the creation of 300,000 new jobs in the tourism industry by 2020.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://en.tengrinews.kz/environment/Kazakhstan-to-develop-its-tourism-industry-254241/ |title=Kazakhstan to develop its tourism industry. Environment. Tengrinews.kz |publisher=En.tengrinews.kz |date=18 June 2014 |access-date=18 November 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151119065420/http://en.tengrinews.kz/environment/Kazakhstan-to-develop-its-tourism-industry-254241/ |archive-date=19 November 2015 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=Lillis />

Kazakhstan has offered a permanent visa-free regime for up to 90 days to citizens of [[Armenia]], [[Azerbaijan]], [[Belarus]], Georgia, [[Moldova]], [[Kyrgyzstan]], [[Mongolia]], Russia and [[Ukraine]], and for up to 30 days to citizens of [[Argentina]], [[Brazil]], [[Ecuador]], [[Serbia]], [[South Korea]], [[Tajikistan]], [[Turkey]], [[UAE]] and [[Uzbekistan]]. It also established a visa-free regime for citizens of 54 countries, including the [[European Union]] and [[OECD#Member countries|OECD member states]], the [[United States|U.S.]], [[Japan]], [[Mexico]], [[Australia]] and [[New Zealand]].<ref name="tim">{{Timatic Visa Policy|country=KZ|accessdate=1 April 2017}}</ref><ref name="mfa.kz">{{cite web |url=http://www.mfa.kz/ru/content-view/vizovyj-rezhim-rk-s-drugimi-gosudarstvami |title=Visa Regime of Kazakhstan with other countries |publisher=The Ministry of foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan |date=3 June 2017 |access-date=22 June 2017 |language=ru |archive-date=9 June 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170609052952/http://www.mfa.kz/ru/content-view/vizovyj-rezhim-rk-s-drugimi-gosudarstvami |url-status=dead }}</ref>