Could you elaborate
on the development of tourism industry and its future
in Kazakhstan?
It is a very complicated question for me because
tourism industry is a new brand industry in the
market. First of all, Kazakhstan has been independent
for 10 years and we just started developing our
market and more especially the tourism sector.
Before we had Ministry of Tourism and Culture
and now we have an Agency for Tourism and Sport.
We have and receive great support from the Government
and the President. When we just became independent,
the outcoming tourism was very popular to such
places as Spain, Italy and France. During that
time money were going out of the country. Now
we are trying to open the country to the Western
world. We would like to develop tourism centres
at least in big cities; thus making it of incoming
type. Of course it is very difficult to attract
people from the West to come to Kazakhstan because
they do not know much about it. Most people think
that we are still part of Russia. Second, we do
not have resorts that would conform to international
standards and expectations of tourists. For example,
we hardly have National Parks like in Africa where
one can have different trips to these places.
Another issue is that we do not have a civilized
service there. For instance, if someone wants
to have a nice dinner at the parks, one can hardly
find place that could offer appropriate service.
Kazakhstan has a beautiful nature which cannot
be found anywhere in the world. Besides, we live
without wars. Our country is very secure comparing
to other countries. Every single year, we observe
real improvements in Kazakhstan.
Could you give a brief overview of history
of Rahat Travel International?
At first, we did not have any travel agency in
Almaty at all. Companies started working in the
airline industry since 1992. At that time, Turkish
Airlines were introduced in our market. We started
flights operating to Istanbul. Then it was Lufthansa
coming to the market. After that KLM and British
Airways entered the market. In between it was
Austrian Airlines. At that time Mr. Knobloch became
a General Manager of Central Asia Tourism.
I started Rahat Travel Agency in 1997 under Mr.
Atamkulov who was the President of Rahat Group
and now Kazakhstan Temir Zholy. We became close
in our business relationship. Once I asked he
would like to have a travel agency, he responded
positively saying 'let's create an agency with
my money and your brain.' My response was 'ok,
but money fifty- fifty and brain fifty-fifty'.
I needed his support because of stereotypes in
Asia concerning women. So, I started Rahat Travel.
Before, there was Marco Polo Travel. In one year
after establishment, I left to Hyatt Hotel and
worked there for two years as a Director of Rooms.
Then, I came back to Rahat Travel.
Could you tell us about main activities of
Rahat Travel?
We are travel agency and what we produce are
services. We believe that every person deserves
high quality services. We are trying to provide
these services starting from visa and finishing
with services at the airport. So, serve clients
from the very beginning till the end when we say
goodbye at the aircraft. We do ticket issuance,
we do ticket booking, and we also deliver different
services such as reserve buses and guides, special
person to accompany handicapped people or children.
We offer various service even tours to Silk Road,
national and international markets.
Could you elaborate more on customers? What kind
of customers do you have? Are they foreigners or
locals? What are the most frequently services you
offer them?
I would say that we have 50% foreign customers and
50% local customers because we work here as well
as abroad. For inbound business, we work with foreign
community and for outbound community - locals. We
are travel agency of high level. Our niche in the
market is business travellers. Most of our sales
are to businesses. We have tree main departments.
These are: ticket bookings, hotel reservations and
everything concerning transportation. Second is
tourism department- inbound and outbound. Third
is at the airport where we help with customs. We
have VIP services: we do visas, passport control,
and custom control. So, we take care of travellers
from their aircraft till we bring person to taxi.
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Are you located only
in Almaty or you also have offices in Astana?
After capital was moved to Astana all ministries
as well as part of our clients moved to Astana
as well. Of course for convenience of our customers,
we opened a new office there. We deliver the same
service in Astana as we do here Almaty. The office
is open till 6 p.m. In Astana, and in Almaty our
office is opened 24 hours a day.
Do you have any plans to develop in big cities
like in Aktau or Atyrau where big companies have
a strong presence, and developing very fast?
In terms of revenues and costs, it is not profitable
for us to establish office there. This is due
to the fact that foreign tourist coming to Kazakhstan,
comes to Almaty. All documents are done here,
all bookings are done here. In this sense, for
them it is more convenient to come to Almaty.
We are of course paying a lot of attention to
all new developments.
What is your strategy in the relationships
between you and your staff members?
Being a manager, it is very difficult because
I would like to create environment where people
work not for me but with me. I pay attention to
development and growth. I am trying to develop
very strong professional - future managers and
directors. Currently, I have 25 people working
with me. We do not separate responsibilities like
you do bookings and you do hotel reservations.
Every one of us knows everything about everything.
We are here because our clients wish to work with
us. We appreciate their choice.
How do you situate yourself in the local market?
Well, it is difficult to claim who we are. We
are not working for numbers. One can be first
in turnover, another one in revenues, and third
one in service. We respect all companies and their
knowledge. We are not trying to fight for one
piece of cake. We are here in order to develop
tourism market in Kazakhstan. We work together.
All of us are sitting on our own chairs. We all
cover the whole market.
Could you give some financial figures for Rahat
Travel International? What was your turnover last
year?
People travel a lot. We started working very
actively lately. Many businessmen from OKIOC travel
with us. For turnover, we observed not a very
big difference from last year.
Could you tell us what was your biggest challenge?
I would like to mention that Rahat Travel is
purely Kazakhstan Company. We do not have foreign
participation in the management and in the capital.
As you already noticed that behind many other
companies there are foreign companies. We are
proud to be locals. This means that local people
can achieve their goals and there is no difference
between foreigners and locals. People have to
work hard and achieve their goals. Without this,
none can achieve anything.
Could you tell us what is your relation to
Rahat Group?
Rahat Group companies are our partners and we
work together. They are: bazaar Rahat, Hotel Rahat,
Rahat Tours etc. (approx. 50 companies) We have
different accounting and different owner. We took
one brand name. Our relationships are very convenient
because we have privileges over other companies
in hotel reservations.
WTM is a big event worldwide for tourist market.
It is held for tourism professionals not for public.
We will have a big presentation together with
Kazakhstan Embassy.
Could you give a final message to our readers?
I would like to say them not to travel to already
known destinations but open new ones. Everybody
is welcome to Kazakhstan. |
