Information and Communication Technologies: Kazakhstan Travel Market Perspective

This pilot study investigates the impact of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) on the tourism industry in Kazakhstan. Empirical research is based on in-depth structured interviews conducted in 2009 which were carried out with owners, wholesalers, and travel sector experts in Almaty. We also used an on-line of the prospective consumers to explore the demand side of the travel e-commerce in the country. A notable finding of the study was the considerable heterogeneity of ICT adoption levels between different industry sectors as well as between different businesses within one sector. Generally ICT adoption by Kazakhstan tourism businesses was considerably lower compared to western countries. It was also established that although prospective consumers have generally positive attitudes towards ICTs, they have strong reservations towards shopping on-line naming security and the complexity of the shopping process as main reasons for not buying through the internet. It is concluded that there is still no strong demand from prospective outbound Kazakhstan tourists for online services. However, the internet and the m-internet are popular media for information searches and should be considered by the tourism industry as a means of reaching consumers