"Atameken" hosted a meeting on outbound tourism, during which they discussed topical issues of the functioning of the system for guaranteeing the rights of citizens in the field of outbound tourism, the Corporate Fund "Tourist Kamkor", as well as the issue of the division of tour operator licenses.

"Atameken" hosted a meeting on outbound tourism, during which they discussed topical issues of the functioning of the system for guaranteeing the rights of citizens in the field of outbound tourism, the Corporate Fund "Tourist Kamkor", as well as the issue of the division of tour operator licenses.

"It is clear that we are trying to focus on domestic and incoming tourism, however, important issues of international tourism can not be ignored. When the guarantee system for the rights of citizens in the field of outbound tourism was legislated, it was agreed that in the near future all mechanisms would be clearly worked out and regulated. Unequivocally, there can not be uniform requirements for both large and small tourist operators. However, differentiation has not yet been spelled out," - Yulia Yakupbaeva said during her welcoming remarks.

Concerning the "Tourism Kamkor" fund, the main question of the market is why the Supervisory Council of the Fund has not been established and does not work. In the opinion of the Kazakhstan Tourism Association, the work of the Council would ensure full transparency of the work of the Fund.

Asylkhan Yesilov, the director of the "Tourist Kamkor" fund, explained that the Emergency Council of the Fund has been set up in order to solve two main problems: it determines the guilt of the travel company and the issue of opening a bank guarantee. Also, since November 2017, the General Meeting of Shareholders is in operation.

"All reporting information is posted on the Fund's website. For those, who care about where the funds are stored - the bank is selected taking into account the international rating. Part of the funds is stored in dollars," - the director of the Fund explained.

In turn, Yulia Yakupbaeva noted that the Emergency Council and the Supervisory Council are not the same body, they have different tasks. And it is the Supervisory Council that would allow ensuring transparency and removing all market issues on the activities and expenses of the Fund. This is important due to the fact that the current legislation does not stipulate responsibility for the safety of assets in this kind of funds. Also, the risk management policy is very important activity, because the issues of the money holding and investment also are of concern to the market.

Director of the Kazakhstan Tourism Association Rashida Shaikenova announced the main issues of the tourist market on work and interaction with the "Tourist Kamkor" fund.

"In order to develop a clear consolidated position, we developed a protocol of disagreements, which reflects the most acute market issues on the guarantee system and the fund activities. The questions are grouped in two main directions: the first is the introduction of changes in legislation with the development of clear mechanisms for the operation of the Guarantee System, and the second is the activity of "Tourist Kamkor," - Shaikenova said.

According to the amendments to the legislation, the most important KTA considers the issue of differentiation of the bank guarantee for tour operators. As an example of calculating the amount of guarantees, it is suggested to consider the IATA experience, when the amount is calculated from the company audit. Also, the KTA notes the need to abolish the norm that requires tour operators to implement tour packages exclusively through travel agents.

As Rashida Shaikenova noted, this rule "works" on mass charter routes, while a greater number of tour operators are small and create an individual, exclusive tourist product. In this segment there are educational, medical, business tourism, as well as other individual requests of tourists, for example, Issyk-Kul, resorts of the Russian Federation, etc.

"In order to follow the letter of the Law, I had to create a travel agent company. A large layer of tour companies create an individual tourist product, at the request of the customer. Sometimes we sell individual services, for example, only a flight, or, conversely, only an accommodation. It means that it is not always possible to give the travel agent a full package. Why can 't I sell it directly to a tourist if I do not sell a mass product and charters?" - Abylkhan Sarsembayev, the director of the ITC "Complete Service", supported the point of Rashida Shaykenova

Thus, the priority tasks are the following: to clearly state the mechanisms of the Guarantee System operation, with a differentiated amount of bank guarantee for various tour operators, including charterers and blockers, the responsibility of tour operators and control mechanisms by the authorized body. It is also necessary to clearly indicate which tour package can not be issued without a tourist code. After the development of the proposals, it is necessary to conduct a final working group with a view to final agreement with all market participants.

The representative of KIT MKS RK Zhandos Bimaganbetov noted that the authorized body agrees that differentiation is necessary, but believes that calculating the amounts of a differentiated bank guarantee is necessary to conduct an audit procedure to determine the volume of services provided by companies.

"Audit is mandatory by no means. It is necessary to find other mechanisms. As an alternative, you can consider the reporting documents of travel companies, because they are responsible for its reliability. KTA has already offered one option - following the example of IATA, all market participants can also give suggestions that need to be considered. It is also necessary to legislatively describe the working mechanism of the Supervisory Council, since this issue has not yet been resolved," - Yulia Yakupbayeva, the representative of KIT, commented.​​​​​​​

Deputy Chairman of the Tourism Industry Committee Gulzat Zhuaspayeva promised that the authorized body will again review all market offers that were sent within the framework of the draft Concept of the Law of the Republic of Kazakhstan "On Amendments and Additions to Certain Legislative Acts of the Republic of Kazakhstan on Tourism Activities"

Regarding the division of licenses, the KTA holds a clear position that the introduction of additional licenses is an extra burden on tour operators. KTA proposes to leave only the outbound tourism licensed, and to transfer the entry and internal ones to the notification procedure. However, another part of the market believes that the abolition of licensing for inbound tourism is a premature measure, since then the quality of the services provided will drop dramatically.
So, the representative of the tourist market Kanat Yeleusizov voiced concerns that with the abolition of licensing a weakly competitive market of inbound tourism will be vulnerable and open to travel companies and guides (including illegal ones) from neighboring countries.   

"Our market is developing and it needs to be protected. The authorised body should play a main role in this process," - Kanat Eleusizov mentioned.​​​​​​​

"To date, the market is very diverse and dynamic. For example, in Georgia, more and more tourists choose online booking. Our tour operators also change their activities, creating individual products. Also, if we now intend to create joint tourism products on cross-border tourism, we need to think about how to make sure that our tour operators and guides are not driven out of the market," - Yulia Yakupbaeva concluded​​​​​​​

Arrangements achieved as a result of the meeting:​​​​​​​

* make proposals on mechanisms for differentiating the amounts of guarantees and monitoring by the authorized body;

* hold a separate meeting on the protection of the internal market;

* hold a separate meeting to discuss market offers for the licensing of tour operators.