Feedback from KITF 2023 participants

Majd Abu Arqub, Regional Marketing Manager of Jordan Tourism Board:

KITF 2023 exhibition is a unique, I didn't expect it to be so positive. The first day was great, a lot of people visited our stand, were interested in Jordan, found out information about our offers. It was very interesting and productive. Today there may be a little less visitors than yesterday, but I see that in the eyes of people there is definitely an interest in tourism. We are very happy and plan to take part next year, as it was very useful to come to such a unique country – Kazakhstan. There are a huge number of people here who are interested in traveling abroad, especially to Jordan. Marketing is very important for business development. I believe that it is important for other countries and representatives of other cultures to take part in such platforms, because thanks to exhibitions there is an opportunity to show themselves, tell about themselves and about their country. The discovery of new countries is always good. Kazakhstan, in my opinion, is a very potentially interesting country, and people here want to learn new things - new countries, new experiences, people want new experiments. Therefore, it is important to take part in such exhibitions in order to tell about yourself, especially to the public of Kazakhstan. See you at KITF 2024!


Nataliya Argonova, Italian National Tourist Board (ENIT):

The KITF exhibition makes a positive impression. Firstly, there is a significant number of participants, and secondly, all our tour operators speak highly of the meetings; there is considerable interest in Italy, everyone is satisfied. There is not a single free minute to just take a break; meetings and negotiations are going all the time. Therefore, I want to emphasize that the exhibition is wonderful. The organization is at the highest level, from the entrance to the pavilion to the work at the stand. Everything is commendable; badges are provided to everyone, and there are no negative aspects. I express my sincere gratitude for the organization. We plan to participate next year as well, hoping that our stand will be even bigger both in size and in the number of participants. We aim for the stand to be at least twice as large. We look forward to releasing a post about our participation and with the most positive feedback, detailing how well the exhibition went.


Albina Rashid, Head of Marketing and Sales of Real Sevket Tour:

We have a lot of impressions about participation in KITF 2023. Our company is taking part in such events for the first time. We have been working since 2009, but this is our first year in tourism, so this is our first exhibition. The exhibition is organized very beautifully and colorfully, thank you very much to the organizers and everyone who took part. I liked everything very much! There was a huge interest of visitors in our direction, especially on the first day. There are customers with whom we have already contacted over the Internet, signed contracts earlier, and met them live on the platform. We are thinking of participating next year, we have already signed the relevant documents, we plan to use a larger volume of the stand for the exhibition in the future and present ourselves on a larger scale.


Dmitriy Smirnov, Public Relations Representative of Maldives Marketing&Public Relation Corporation:

We are taking part in KITF 2023 for the first time. To be honest, when preparing to participate in the exhibition, we did not know what to prepare ourselves for, what to plan. We announced to representatives of the private sector the opportunity to come to the exhibition with us and exhibit as sub-exhibitors. We didn't know how many of them would show interest, we were afraid there wouldn't be many, 20 participants showed interest, and as a result we received a lot more applications. We had to announce a small waiting list among willing companies. In total, 24 companies came with us as part of the Maldives National Stand, that is, more than we had planned. Because the interest in the Kazakhstani market is very great. According to the general statistics of arrivals among the CIS countries, Kazakhstan is in second place after Russian tourists. On the first day there was a huge demand among visitors, we could hardly cope, there were a lot of negotiations. Today there is a little less activity, but there is more opportunity to negotiate in a calm mode, to communicate on professional topics with colleagues from different regions and cities of Kazakhstan who come and are interested. We believe that the Maldives is a destination for holidays all year round, despite the fact that many people have the opinion that the Maldives should only be visited in winter. Now one of our main tasks that we are working on is to convince the audience that you can go to the Maldives all year round, and explain what you can do in different months of the year, in different seasons. This is the main concept of promotion this year. The rest: all commercial information, special offers are in the hands of our exhibitors. We interview them, they fill out a questionnaire, share their opinions orally. The second day there is a constant flow of visitors, and I see that they are satisfied. Because these are commercial companies, they must sell, they must eventually receive a certain number of tourists. We hope that among the other wonderful directions that are presented at the exhibition, we will also look confident and worthy. Following the results of participation in the exhibition, we will wait for further results of this year, the summer season. This is a crucial moment for us, because in summer the flow of tourists is falling. I think that the results at KITF 2023 exhibition will help overcome a certain difficulty that we see in the next 5-6 months. We will collect opinion from our exhibitors. I see no reason not to participate in this exhibition in the future. Given the high demand among our private sectors, most likely we will expand the stand to accommodate all interested companies. The impression of Almaty is amazing, very friendly, kindly, nice people. From the point of view of tourism in Kazakhstan, I see that the country is working on domestic tourism, which is very gratifying to see, because Kazakhstan is a wonderful destination in itself. 


Ayazhan Myrzagaliyeva, Head of the Digitalization Department of the Tourist Information Center of Almaty region Municipal State Treasury Enterprise, Tourism Department of Almaty region State Institution:

We, as the Tourism Information Center of Almaty region, participate for the first time.  Previously, they took part in a different composition. We are very glad to be here. As I know, 22 countries are taking part this year. We are very happy to share our experience, learn new information, and create partnerships with companies. The visitors showed interest in our stand, in our tourism products. There are local companies here who would like to cooperate, exhibit on our website and on Instagram, and promote domestic tourism. There was interest, both from foreign guests and from local visitors. It was a pleasure to talk and exchange experience with colleagues from Croatia, who also participate in the exhibition. We are now trying to create new products specifically for agrotourism, the product was interesting for them. I believe that such events are very important for an open dialogue. We talk, exchange experiences, learn new information. Also, the business sessions held within the framework of the business program of the exhibition play an important role, since we can participate as speakers and ask questions on topics of interest. This is extremely important for the development of the industry. I would like such platforms to be organized more often.  


Kirill Gusev, Region Managing Director of HomeCreditBank:

This is the first time we are taking part in KITF 2023 exhibition. This is quite a successful experience for us, as there are many partners on the platform, both travel agents and tour operators. For our part, we present our product, which is interesting to tour operators, travel agents, and customers. A product with a “win – win” position, which allows every citizen of Kazakhstan to increase their chance to go on vacation abroad.

The exhibition is organized at the highest level, I was impressed by the participation, I did not expect such an effect. Tour operators were interested in our product. Some of the presented participants are already working with us today. For new companies, our product was quite interesting. I think that in the future, we will enter into partnerships with 100% of travel agencies in Kazakhstan.  We plan to take part in 2024. 


Almas Seterbayev, Director of Medovarnya.kz , participant of the regional stand of the East Kazakhstan region:

This year we really liked the KITF exhibition. Most visitors have an active desire to visit East Kazakhstan, compared to previous years, it pleasantly surprised us. More than 10 representatives of the tourism industry, owners of recreation centers are represented at the general regional stand of the East Kazakhstan region. We distributed all the handouts in one day, as a result, we had to print out new booklets at night in the printing house. We did not expect such activity and such interest, everyone is very happy! This is the third time I have participated in this exhibition, and I plan to exhibit annually. I believe that participation in such platforms gives an opportunity not only to introduce guests to our company, but also to communicate with colleagues, learn something new, meet foreign friends. The KITF exhibition platform covers all these needs.


Medet Mankeyev, General Manager of Ontusik Thermal Resort LLP:

This year we really liked the KITF exhibition. Most visitors have an active desire to visit East Kazakhstan, compared to previous years, it pleasantly surprised us. More than 10 representatives of the tourism industry, owners of recreation centers are represented at the general regional stand of the East Kazakhstan region. We distributed all the handouts in one day, as a result, we had to print out new booklets at night in the printing house. We did not expect such activity and such interest, everyone is very happy! This is the third time I have participated in this exhibition, and I plan to exhibit annually. I believe that participation in such platforms gives an opportunity not only to introduce guests to our company, but also to communicate with colleagues, learn something new, meet foreign friends. The KITF exhibition platform covers all these needs.


Feedback from KITF 2022 participants

Nurzhan Algashov, Partner of the KITF TravelFest Travelers Forum

For the third time at KITF we are organizing a Travelers Forum - an informal association of travelers, where we tell different stories from the trips, inspire people to unite travel lovers and popularize travel. Because of the pandemic, our travels were limited, but now the borders are being opened and we're glad we can continue to share our stories with audiences on this unique platform. I am very grateful to the KITF platform for the opportunity to get together. During the quarantine period, many of our attendees waited for our next Fest and inquired about the date, which shows a constantly growing interest in our event. I am glad that on this beautiful sunny day we were able to meet again in person and share emotions from our travels. Preferably, it would be better to change the format of the festival from a pavilion to an outdoor venue, with sun beds, outdoors, and more guest speakers. So see you next year!


Shola Gurbanova, Sales Manager of Chinar Hotel&SPA, Azerbaijan

We had a fantastic experience at KITF 2022. We did not expect such an effect and influx of visitors, who had a great interest in us and wanted to work together in the future. There were even companies that wanted to conclude contracts immediately at the exhibition site. We present recreation in Azerbaijan: tours, business hotels, and now our direction is very popular. For us, participation in 2022 was very exciting, we prepared for participation in the exhibition in advance, it took about six months of preparation and we hope to get the most effective results.


Diana Nanadze, Chief Specialist for the Promotion of International Tourism of the Department of Tourism and Resorts of Adjara, Georgia

It is very important for us to take part in the KITF exhibition, since Kazakhstan is our target country. Every year we arrange information and press tours for Kazakhstan, journalists and tour operators come to Georgia and get acquainted with our culture and sights. The flow of tourists from Kazakhstan is growing from year to year, airlines are making regular flights and it's important for us to be here. We will definitely come next year, it is important for us to establish partnerships with Kazakhstan and do everything to develop tourism in our countries!


Lyudmila Brown, Head of FUN&SUN premium and Department of Work with FUN&SUN Travel Agencies

What is KITF? For me, it's about expanding my client base, opportunities and development. Of course, this is a huge opportunity to attract and find new customers. And also a great way to see your competitors, adopt positive experiences and meet long-time partners not only from all over Kazakhstan, but also from all over the world. These are travel agencies, tour operators, air carriers, and hoteliers. It's really great to be here, because the pandemic "stole" a couple of years from us, so we need to make up for lost time. We would like to give advice to those who perform at the platform for the first time, it is necessary to make a rich animation part and diversify the information flow by attractive activities! Well, you need to prepare for participation in the exhibition well in advance, then the results will be high! I wish KITF more growth and become more extensive, more interesting and brighter next year!


Yermatov Farrukh, Ministry of Tourism and Cultural Heritage of the Republic of Uzbekistan

The KITF platform is very useful for the development of international partnerships. We can see that despite the pandemic, the industry is growing and interest in the Central Asian region, as a single tourist product, is increasing year by year. KITF is the catalyst for this growing interest.