What to choose: urban or medical tourism

The Kazakhstan Tourism Association devoted one of its winter webinars in February to the tourism potential of the city of Nur-Sultan and the surrounding Akmola region. This is a truly nature-rich region, where there are three state national parks - Burabai, Kokshetau and Buiratau, as well as the unique Korgalzhinsky Reserve, which is included in the UNESCO Natural Heritage List. On the territory of the Akmola region, a well-developed network of health resorts-more than 300 types of recreation facilities are concentrated, of which more than 20 have a sufficiently equipped medical base. 

Burabay and Zerenda-the birthplace of pine forests

According to the chairman of the Association of the Recreation and Tourism Industry of the Akmola region Shynarbek Batyrkhanov, the opportunities for recreation in the Akmola region are limitless. After all, the most important thing is that here are concentrated useful and healing pine forests-unique woodlands that are rightfully natural monuments, purifying not only the human lungs, but also being the drainage system of the ecosystem itself. As scientists have proven, esters and organic acids released by pine trees ignite the secret of the airways of the human body, thereby enhancing the drainage function of the dilated bronchi. After all, in the end, the air saturated with pine needles is one of the most effective factors that allows a person to recover in the conditions of the development of domestic tourism without any major material costs, staying in the surroundings of unique natural places. Today, in addition to traditional stays in boarding houses, resorts, sanatoriums and tourist bases, it is becoming fashionable to take one, two and three-day weekend tours with a trip to the bosom of nature, where our fellow citizens breathe useful and therapeutic air, spend all kinds of team building, active recreation in ski bases. Even the very simple skating and staying in the winter forest brings a great effect of strengthening the immune system, improving overall health. This winter, the festival of ice fishing has already been held on the territory of the Akmola region, and kapushka rides are winter starts on quads. Kazakhstan's Lapland, a project initiated by Elbasy, the First President of Kazakhstan, is successfully operating on the territory of Burabay. Children here get into a winter fairy tale with a visit to the residence of Santa Claus. Here, children can also ride dog and deer sleds. On the territory of the Akmola region, there are about 70 tour companies that have licenses for tour operator activities, which offer all interested Kazakhstanis and foreign tourists to relax in the resorts of Burabaya and Zerenda. Here you can not just relax from the bustling city, but also improve your health. At the same time, recreation in the resort areas of the Akmola region can be divided into three categories. The first one is elite, when the rest per day in five-star hotels starts from 70 thousand tenge per day. The second segment is boarding houses, resorts, sanatoriums, where the cost of stay varies from 6 to 20 thousand tenge per day, depending on the room category. It takes into account 3,4,5 meals a day, a unique medical base, as well as the entire entertainment complex. The third segment is children's health centers, the flagship of which is the republican children's health complex "Baldauren". In the picturesque area on the shore of Lake Shchuchye, there are many health resorts that offer a wide range of medical services. Despite the fact that the coronavirus pandemic has made certain adjustments to the work of the sanatorium and resort sector, they quickly adapted to the new conditions, taking a course to strengthen the safety of vacationers from coronavirus infection.

Rest with health benefits

Many resorts and sanatoriums, taking additional precautions, have acquired innovative disinfection tunnels, which are equipped with high-quality nozzles that spray a clean disinfectant that is safe for the human body. This technology allows you to destroy up to 99 percent of pathogenic microbes. Also, all resorts and sanatoriums are equipped with thermal imagers-portable infrared cameras, which allows you to determine and recognize the increased temperature of the surface of the human skin. Large sanatoriums and resorts have also purchased artificial lung ventilation (ventilator) devices, which in emergency situations will help maintain the respiratory functions of both adults and children. Almost all health centers in the resort area of Burabay in the face of the threat of the spread of the coronavirus pandemic are equipped with quartz lamps and sanitizers for hand treatment. Also on the territory of the resort area, sanatoriums have drinking fountains with radon water from their own well, which has a positive effect on strengthening the entire human body. The full range of medical services provided by the health resorts of Burabay is considered highly effective, aimed at the recovery and treatment of cardiovascular diseases, respiratory diseases, neurological, urological, gynecological, as well as diseases of the musculoskeletal system. Local resorts also offer preventive courses for children and teenagers. There is also a full range of physiotherapy courses and ECG diagnostics, ultrasound, non-invasive rapid diagnostics of the entire body by 130 parameters and glucometry. A huge number of health resorts and hospitals offer mud applications – electroplating, hydrotherapy, ozokeritotherapy, speleotherapy, electrophoresis, aromatherapy, laser therapy, magnetotherapy, all types of massage. Here, for an additional fee, you can get hirudotherapy, cedar barrel with phyto and antlers, acupuncture, hijam and cans, honey wrap, intestinal cleansing, ozone therapy, urology and gynecology treatment devices, bioenergomassage, shock wave therapy. Large sanatoriums and resort centers conduct chemical and biochemical blood tests, hormonal background analysis. The Burabai resort area also has unique massage chairs equipped with more than 550 massage combinations. Here, in one of the resorts, you can find the only foot massager on the market, which is able to do a rubbing and kneading calf massage, which instantly improves the flow of blood and lymph, strengthening your blood vessels, relieving heaviness and pain. There are also unique massagers for the head and eyes. You can get treatment courses on rehabilitation simulators that are used for various types of diseases, allowing you to reduce muscle tone, prevent osteoporosis, stimulate the intestines, train balance and prevent joint stiffness. All these successes achieved in the resort area of Burabay, can not but rejoice. After all, our fellow citizens often complain about the quality of service or the scarcity of services provided.

Urban modern tourism-the driver of the economy

But today, a separate topic should be noted the type of tourism that is gaining momentum, which is peculiar only to our young capital. A special chapter is the world of excursion programs for schoolchildren and young people. In particular, many travel companies now offer schools a lot of standard and boring lessons to replace with fascinating educational tours of their native city. In this way, children form a cognitive interest. According to tour operators, today tours of Nur-Sultan are not just a visit to the capital and exciting excursions, but also an opportunity to get in touch with the history and present day of our country, to touch with your soul, and where allowed, and with your hands, to the monuments of architecture and art. According to the information of the tour operator Tatyana Kazantseva, a huge selection of topics of programs is presented to the attention of those who wish, from historical, architectural, cultural, musical, theatrical, to local history, natural history, military-patriotic, religious, master classes, tasting and even field lessons. In the capital for a day, two, or even more, come whole excursion school groups from all regions of the country, which go immediately on a sightseeing bus tour. The group spends the whole day on a quest to find all the buildings and structures of spherical shapes in the capital. The excursion program "Hello, Capital" involves a four-hour tour of the EXPO heritage. In particular, the group visits the spherical ball "Nur-Alem", the Museum of Future Energy, located in a glass sphere with a diameter of 80 meters on the 8 floors of the building. The exclusive tour "Secrets of the Backstage" can also be presented to the attention of those who wish, where you will find a mysterious journey into the magical world-behind the scenes of the national theater "Astana Ballet", where you can see firsthand everything that is hidden from the eyes of the ordinary viewer: from the dressing room, costume room, sewing and decoration shops, ending with a demonstration of excerpts from a ballet performance. Also, for the participants of the excursion tour, a mandatory evening excursion will be organized-a walk around the city, which in the evening is surprisingly transformed beyond recognition. Travel agencies of the capital are also ready to provide everyone with excursions on the calendar, timed to a variety of holidays, both national and local, famous and new. It can also be April 15 - national Valentine's Day, September 12-Family Day, July 6-the Day of the Capital. There is a unique excursion "Green Belt of the capital" (in summer with cycling, in winter-on skis). There are also services of "Field lessons", when the guide comes to the school and conducts the most unforgettable and exciting lesson for curious children. You can also organize a visit to the Atomic energy information center, where anyone will have a unique opportunity to "visit" both the Moon, the Sun, and Antarctica, the hot tropics, see the nuclear power plant with their own eyes from a bird's-eye view, assemble a nuclear reactor with their own hands, and go down to the depth of the earth up to 400 meters. There are excursions on military and patriotic topics, master classes League of Robots, Secrets of sand animation, pottery, jewelry, making souvenirs, making desserts of national cuisine, "Sports Capital" with a visit to sports palaces, skating, excursions to the children's National Library. Tour operators offer young tourists and excursions-quests, which perfectly help to learn the history of the young capital. In this way, guests not only remember, but also recreate old historical events in their memory, soberly assessing their knowledge in such sciences as history and geography. Young travelers get a good opportunity not only to have an interesting time, but also to show their ingenuity and ingenuity. For example, these qualities can be shown by "playing" the national Kazakh games. This is a quest, and ethno-education of the younger generation in the spirit of patriotism, instilling national ideas and values, where children get not only new knowledge, but also get acquainted with the traditions and customs of the Kazakh people, learn more about history and develop their intellectual abilities. And by visiting the Botanical Garden, students get the opportunity to get more closely acquainted with the surrounding nature and invaluable knowledge of ecology. Here, within the framework of the excursion program "First of all planes", the curious are given the chance to make an excursion to the Nur-Sultan International Airport, get acquainted with spotting and spotters. If you look more closely, recently all excursions are no longer boring and monotonous, travel agencies are moving away from cliches and templates. Volunteers are increasingly involved in the work. And these positive trends can not but rejoice.

Glamping - a new word in the tourism industry

Scout tours are particularly popular. Tour operator Ildar Katenov is sure that tourists, including children and teenagers, can get a lot of impressions from all kinds of tent camps and gatherings. The most interesting thing is that such scouting trips are made not only within the country, but also with trips to distant countries. Many domestic travel agencies visited about 40 countries of the world with scout tours, which were attended by more than 30 thousand children and teenagers. Recently, such a type of mobile tourism as Glamping has become popular, it is a combination of comfortable and glamorous outdoor recreation. In the developed countries of the world, the mobile, inexpensive, but very technological tourism industry is gaining huge momentum, where every third tourist chooses this type of holiday. The all-season type of recreation involves outdoor recreation with insulated tents using light, without foundation and shield-building structures. And this, in turn, helps to open additional permanent jobs for residents of rural areas. It's no secret that many city dwellers, even far from the bustling metropolis, do not want to part with the usual modern amenities – from a warm bed, hot water and uninterrupted electricity. If camping can not boast of such luxury, then glamping is exactly the kind of recreation where all the above types of luxury are present in the wild nature of a comfortable pastime. But unfortunately, Kazakhstan at the moment can not boast of this type of tourism destination, and in the Akmola region there is no such type of tourist destination. Although according to statistics, by 2024, the world's income from glamping will be 3 billion US dollars. But, as we have learned, there are pioneers in our country who are ready to implement such a project first. We will soon learn more about this new type of tourism. The authors promise to make this type of recreation acceptable and affordable. The uniqueness of the project is also that the development of this type of direction will not critically depend on the coronavirus pandemic. After all, Glamping means a vacation away from the noisy city, in the silence of nature. This means that it will be possible to comply with all sanitary and epidemiological requirements. And outdoor recreation in a pine forest will only benefit you. The organizers of this type of holiday hope very much that it will be possible to attract not only domestic, but also foreign tourists to a new type of tourism. After all, by and large, this is a new kind of Scout movement, but only modern, with comfort, focused on the modern tourist. As expected, the first Glamping in this summer season will appear on the territory of Akkol district, where safari tents, year-round houses, spa areas,activity areas and barbecue will be installed for luxury recreation. Bicycle rentals, climbing walls, rope parks, archery and crossbow shooting, scouting programs, family quests, personal growth training with elements of survival will be presented to the guests. As they say, we'll wait and see. And in conclusion, I would like to emphasize once again that the Akmola region really has all the opportunities for the development of domestic tourism, which should be implemented as much as possible for its intended purpose. Информация взята с сайта EL.KZ