533 COMPANIES AND OVER 5,000 UNIQUE VISITORS BECAME PART OF THE MAIN TOURISM EVENT - KITF 2025 IN ALMATY
ONE OF THE MOST IMPRESSIVE AND BRIGHT EXPO EVENTS IN THE TOURISM INDUSTRY, THE 23RD KAZAKHSTAN INTERNATIONAL TOURISM AND TRAVEL EXHIBITION - KITF 2025, HAS ENDED IN ALMATY.
From April 23 to 25, 533 companies from 31 countries presented the best tourism destinations at the Atakent KCBC. Over the three exhibition days, 5,526 industry specialists became unique visitors. Visitors to the exhibition noted that KITF is an ideal platform for networking: “This is an ideal platform where travel agencies, airlines and system providers find each other. This year, I found new partners, including the CEO of Air Astana. We had a pleasant conversation and found areas of common interest. We also managed to conclude verbal agreements with three major partners”, Yerbol Zhanybekov, the Director of Sabre Travel Network, shared his impressions.
KITF is a large-scale event that brings together participants and visitors from around the world, creating a site for a broad exchange of experience, ideas and innovations in the tourism industry. The 2025 exposition was presented by companies from Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Great Britain, Hungary, Vietnam, Greece, Georgia, Egypt, India, Italy, Kazakhstan, Qatar, China, Cuba, the Kyrgyz Republic, Latvia, Malaysia, Maldives, the UAE, Russia, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Thailand, Turkey, Uzbekistan, Montenegro, the Czech Republic, Sri Lanka, South Korea, Japan. Among the exhibitors were 93 companies from Kazakhstan and 438 foreign companies, which confirms the importance of the expo event on the international site.
Special attention at the exhibition was paid to national and regional stands. This year, 15 national groups, including Azerbaijan, Vietnam, Georgia, Kazakhstan, China, Cuba, the Kyrgyz Republic, Malaysia, the Maldives, Uzbekistan, Russia, Romania, Thailand, South Korea and Japan, presented their expositions. In addition, 15 regional stands from cities and regions of Kazakhstan, as well as Gyeonggi Province (South Korea) were actively represented. Among the new destinations of the exhibition were Latvia and the United Kingdom, which indicates the expansion of the geography of participants. Exhibition visitors also noted the usefulness of the event for getting to know new destinations: “I discovered new destinations, such as Cuba, and also met representatives of hotels in Da Nang and other interesting places. It was incredibly useful and informative”, said Aigerim Taukenova, Director of Davainamore.
Among the debutant companies were GTO KZ, SATGURU TRAVEL & TOUR SERVICES, My Travel, MAYRVEDA Kislovodsk, Qazaq Auyl, SIA DREAM VOYAGE and HTF Limited. They noted the exhibition as an excellent opportunity to expand business contacts: “We already have many working contracts and new business contacts. On average, we can say that about 5,000 interested visitors visited our stand. For us, this is an excellent opportunity to establish partnerships” - said Mehra Lokendra, the Director of SatGuru Travel & Tour Service LLP.
On the first day of the exhibition, the official opening ceremony was held with the participation of Yerzhan Yerkinbayev, the Deputy Minister of Sports and Tourism of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Galiya Tokseitova, the Head of the Tourism Department of Almaty city, Boris Danilenko, the Director of Iteca Kazakhstan Exhibition Company, as well as representatives of diplomatic missions, Embassies and Consulates General of the participating countries, representatives of industry associations and unions. Galiya Tokseitova, the Head of the Tourism Department of Almaty city, in her welcoming speech noted: “Thanks to the visa-free regime with 82 countries, Almaty is becoming more accessible and attractive to guests from all over the world. Today, Almaty is deservedly gaining international popularity. Such authoritative publications as CNN Travel and Lonely Planet included our city in the list of the best travel destinations in 2025”.
Also within the framework of the exhibition, business meetings were held between the Ministry of Sports and Tourism of the Republic of Kazakhstan and representatives of the tourism departments of Armenia, Romania and Uzbekistan. During the negotiations, a number of cooperation agreements were signed. In particular, Visit Astana and Visit Almaty signed a memorandum on the development of partnership in order to promote the tourism potential of Astana and Almaty at the domestic and international levels.
During all the days of the exhibition, a rich business program for participants and visitors was held at the KITF Travel Forum site. The central topic of the forum was TREND ZONE: BEYOND TRAVEL, which included panel and strategic sessions, master classes, workshops, presentations and partner meetings. On April 23, participants discussed global changes, business adaptation, introduction of new technologies and key trends in tourism development during 5 sessions. In addition, on this day, travel companies were awarded by Passenger Transportation JSC, which noted their achievements in the field of passenger services and tourism infrastructure.
April 24 was dedicated to practical cases, analysis of current strategies and increasing expertise level in the industry. The forum included: a panel session, a session on the development of domestic and inbound tourism, a master class, roasting, presentations and discussions, as well as a meeting of Kazakh Tourism with travel companies, during which the prospects for the development of domestic and international tourism were discussed.
On April 25, forum participants took part in master classes and presentations on domestic and inbound tourism. On this day, the results of the “I CHOOSE TOURISM!” competition, dedicated to the 60th anniversary of the founder and first head of ITECA Kazakhstan Exhibition Company - Edward Strachan, were also summed up.
The exhibition’s innovation was the Coffee Rave, which provided effective networking and became an excellent platform for informal meetings and discussions. In addition, the exhibition established cooperation with Umai Art School and launched a new section “KITF SILKROAD TRAVEL - Everything for Active Rest and Tourism”. The topic of Gastronomic Tourism, which was presented at the Taste & Travel site, returned to the exhibition.
Thanks to a rich program, wide geographical coverage of participants and a high level of organization, KITF 2025 once again confirmed its status as one of the leading tourism exhibitions in Central Asia.
Official Partners: KOMPAS TOUROPERATOR, Georgian National Tourism Administration
Business Program Partners: Trand Buro and Success Travel Academy
Official support for the event was provided by the Ministry of Tourism and Sports of the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Akimat of Almaty city, Kazakh Tourism National Company JSC, Kompas, and the Kazakhstan Tourism Association ALE.
The organizers were Iteca Kazakhstan Exhibition Company and its international partner - ICA Events Group of Companies.
