ICT DIFFUSION AND THE DIGITAL DIVIDE IN TOURISM: KAZAKHSTAN PERSPECTIVE - Tourism in Central Asia: Cultural Potential and Challenges - page 296

TABLE 2 ICT adoption by TO in Kazakhstan.

ICT adoption Status

Connection to global systems Amadeus only

Internet use E-mails, web presence, B2B

ICT perception Necessary tool

Overall ICT adoption High

The Hospitality industry in Kazakhstan is presented by various types
of hotels—from small family operated to big international chains such as
Intercontinental, Hyatt, Rixos, Royal Tulip. ICT diffusion by hospitality
industry varies from high in international chains (GDS, front and back
stage systems, often CRM) to low in small hotels with old systems of
running business (phone bookings, direct orders from TA and TO). ICT
adoption by hotels in Kazakhstan is summarized in Table 3.

TABLE 3 Hotel industry and ICT adoption.

ICT adoption Status

Connection to global systems GDS, front and back stage systems, often CRM

Internet use Variable, high in international franchises and chains,

low in small local hotels

ICT perception Necessary tool for international chains, franchises

Overall ICT adoption Variable

Destinations in Kazakhstan do not have a very strong presence on the
web. Only websites of big cities such as Almaty or Astana can be found.
Smaller cities and especially the towns and local communities in rural
areas do not have any websites because very often there is no Internet
access. Some destinations in rural locations are trying to have more ex-
posure on the web with the help of international experts (Garkavenko and
Tiberghien, 2011, 2011a). Thus, there is a huge disparity between cities
and rural areas in terms of Internet and PC diffusion—high adoption in big
cities and very low in rural and small town areas. Data on ICT adoption by
tourism destinations in Kazakhstan is summarized in Table 4.