Kazakhstan’s Prime Minister Olzhas Bektenov last week met with the President of PGI Management Joan Viladomat to discuss cooperation in the development of ski tourism in the Almaty mountain cluster and modernization of its infrastructure to adapt to international standards.
Joan Viladomat told about his company’s projects in a number of countries. Today the company has more than 120 implemented projects, including such winter tourism brands as Davos and St. Moritz (Switzerland), Courchevel (France), Ischgl and Tyrol (Austria), Vail and Aspen (USA), Whistler-Blackcomb (Canada), as well as resorts in Andorra, where the number of visitors last year amounted to 9.6 million people compared to the country’s population of 80,000. For more than 60 years, the company has been a world leader in the development of ski resorts.
The parties considered the prospects of joint development of the Almaty mountain cluster, which now receives 2 million tourists a year. The existing infrastructure of 41 km of pistes and 16 lifts allows to provide a capacity of 6 thousand people per day. At the same time, the growing demand from domestic and foreign tourists requires further improvement of the state strategy for the development of ski tourism as an all-season tourist destination. According to an analysis, the development of the cluster’s infrastructure by bringing the length of pistes to 227 km and lifts to 58 will allow to increase the current throughput capacity 5.6-fold, up to 34 thousand people per day, and create 10 thousand jobs. The Almaty mountain cluster will be able to receive up to 7.5 million tourists per year by 2029. In addition, a sustainable effect on the development of the related and services economy is expected.
