Free air travel for children will be launched in Kazakhstan. Under this program, free air tickets will be provided to Kazakhstanis aged from two to 14 years.
The main goal of the Kids Go Free program ( children travel for free) is to motivate Kazakhstanis to relax with the whole family in the tourist destinations of Kazakhstan. This will be done by subsidizing children’s air tickets. According to the approximate calculations of the Ministry of Culture and Sports, this will reduce the cost of recreation by up to 30 percent.
Where you can fly on ” Kids go Free”
Free air tickets will be available to destinations in the top 10 priority tourist territories (PTT), defined by the State Program for the Development of the Tourism Industry for 2019-2025. They include the following territories:
1) Lake Alakol;
2) mountain cluster of Almaty region;
3) Shchuchinsko-Borovskaya resort area;
4) Bayanaul resort area;
5) Imantau-Shalkar resort area;
6) Lake Balkhash;
7) Turkestan;
8) Mangystau beach recreation areas;
9) development of MICE-tourism (business tourism related to the organization and holding of corporate events – ed.) in the city of Nur-Sultan;
10) the Baikonur cosmodrome.
Фото Юлия Чернявская
How many days to rest
At the same time, there are no restrictions on the number of free air tickets. However, some nuances are spelled out. So, when purchasing a tourist product with the included “Kids go Free”, the tourist is obliged to live in the above places for at least five days and four nights without a break on dates. If you plan to visit several places at once, then you will need to live in each of them for at least two days and one night. The total length of stay must also be at least five days and four nights without a break on dates. In this case, free flights for children will be provided to the airport of the first location and from the airport of the final location. Tickets and transportation costs between intermediate locations will be borne by the tourist.
Therefore, it is more profitable to purchase a travel service with a stay in each location for at least five days and four nights. Under these conditions, free flights for children will be provided between airports of all locations.
Let’s take an example: a family of five people (two parents and three children aged two to 14 years) planned a vacation on the coast of Alakol, Almaty region, with a visit to the resort of Shymbulak with the Nur-Sultan – Almaty – Usharal – Nur-Sultan air route.
If the family takes a tourist product, which provides for a visit to Shymbulak for five days and the coast of Alakol for seven days, then air tickets will need to be paid only for two parents.
Accordingly, with fewer days of accommodation in each PTT, the family will have to pay the cost of air tickets for two parents along the entire air route and the cost of air tickets on the route Almaty-Usharal for three children.
Can I use Kids Go Free to visit my relatives?
It is noted that free air tickets for children will be available only in the framework of domestic travel products with the “Kids go free” option enabled. At the same time, according to the requirements of the program, no more than two children can fly with one adult (parent or legal representative of the child). Accordingly, the program is available both for a family with one child and for large families, provided that one adult flies for two children.
You can stay in hotels, motels, campsites, tourist bases, guest houses, holiday homes, boarding houses. But you can’t stay with relatives or, for example, friends.
Tour packages will be sold by tour operators in the field of domestic tourism or through travel agents. Prices for places of residence will be formed based on supply and demand. Therefore, the conditions of accommodation, food and other options will depend on the preferences of tourists and the possibilities of the chosen place of accommodation by the tour operator.
When will the program be launched
The press service of the Ministry of Culture explained that at the moment the program “Kids go Free” is under consideration in the Senate of the Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan and will be approved after the adoption of the draft law on tourism activities.
Therefore, tours with the option of free air tickets for children have not yet been formed. It is planned that domestic tour operators working for the domestic market will be able to make such tour packages. The prices will be available on their Internet resources.
Recall that the initiative to provide free air tickets to children was proposed as part of the financing of 163 billion tenge in support of domestic tourism in the post-crisis period.
Информация взята с сайта Tengritravel.kz
