Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
in 2008. In 2009, financial indicators of the firms worsened due to the
decreased number of outbound tourists. Meanwhile the financial crises
of 2007-2010 significantly activated domestic tourism. Inbound tourism
slightly increased over the last four years. One of the reasons is that Al-
maty is a host for many international events. Most of the surveyed firms
are optimistic about their future as the Government takes efforts to im-
prove the business environment and the physical structure, and to further
develop the tourism cluster.
The sample data shows that the competitiveness of local firms is pos-
itively correlated with their age, innovativeness, and network size. The
higher extent of innovativeness is inherent to firms, which interact with
many other companies in the related and supporting industries. The higher
the propensity of the firm to innovate, the more the number of actors they
cooperate with and the higher is the likelihood of its survival and growth.
Most of the respondents are optimistic about the future prospects of their
firms expecting a firm's growth. This reflects the fact that the external en-
vironment in the country is improving. The problems are caused by lack
of credits for small and medium enterprises, lack of investments in recon-
struction and building of public infrastructure, and complicated visa issue
procedures. In future research it is interesting to explore the relationship
between corporate social responsibility (CSR) and competitiveness.
INTERNATIONAL COMPETITIVENESS OF THE KAZAKHSTANI
TOURISM INDUSTRY
The country's authorities consider tourism to be one of the most impor-
tant industries for the development of the Kazakh economy. Tourism in
the country remains underdeveloped, and retains significant future growth
potential. Authorities in the country have looked to promote tourism in
a variety of ways, such as through passing legislation and committing to
development programs. Under the State Program of Forced Industrial and
Innovative Development for 2010-2014, new roads, railways and guest-
houses are being constructed.
Porter (2005) emphasized good basic workforce skills, low electricity
costs, modern airport infrastructure and the large pool of investment capi-
tal as competitive advantages of Kazakhstan; weaknesses in the physical
infrastructure, shortage of managerial skills and entrepreneurship, lack of
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