The role of the state in the development of rural tourism: lessons from foreign countries for Kazakhstan

Rural tourism plays an important role in increasing the sustainability of agricultural zones in the context of modern global challenges. Among such challenges are increasing urbanization, climate change, economic instability, rising unemployment, the need to provide employment, as well as the preservation of biodiversity, resources and national, and historical heritage. However, despite the obvious need for intensive and comprehensive development of rural areas, including improving the quality of services, a unified state policy in the field of rural tourism has not yet been defined, and there are no developed parameters for the balance between state regulation and market mechanisms in this area. The problems emphasize the need to study successful global practices of state support for rural tourism to adapt them to national policies. The article examines various models of world leaders that demonstrate the diversity of types of state support for rural tourism, including institutional, regulatory and economic measures; these approaches and models are successfully applied in different countries. The study showed that the state policy in the field of rural tourism, which is at the stage of active formation in Kazakhstan, can be significantly strengthened by introducing foreign practices, which will accelerate the growth, and institutional development of rural regions, increase the competitiveness and attractiveness of rural tourism in the country, attract investment, create new jobs while preserving traditions.

Given the growing interest of the population in rural tourism, state support should be aimed at comprehensive measures, including infrastructure development, marketing strategies, support for entrepreneurship, and the creation of attractive investment conditions.

The purpose of the study is to study the best foreign experience in state regulation of rural tourism and develop recommendations for improving the economic situation in rural regions of Kazakhstan. This work used both general scientific and specialized methods of analyzing socio-economic processes, including systemic, structural-functional and comparative approaches, as well as economic modelling.

1. Postanovlenie Pravitel'stva Respubliki Kazahstan. Koncepciya razvitiya sel'skih territorij Respubliki Kazahstan na 2023–2027 gody. [Resolution of the Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan. The concept of development of rural areas of the Republic of Kazakhstan for 2023-2027] 28.03.2023. Available at: — URL: https://www.gov.kz/memleket/entities/sko-akkayiyn/press/article/details/121437 [in Russian]. (accessed: 15.12.2024).

2. Ragimov T. B. Mezhdunarodnoe turistskoe pravo: tendencii i razvitie. [International tourism law: trends and development]. Zhurnal zarubezhnogo zakonodatel'stva i sravnitel'nogo pravovedeniya. 2015. №. 4 (53). Р. 603-608 [in Russian].

3. Ishbulatov R.F., Matveeva L.D., Shajgardanova V.Yu. Osobennosti gosudarstvennoj politiki v sfere sel'skogo turizma v stranah Evropejskogo Soyuza. [Features of state policy in the field of rural tourism in the countries of the European Union]. Zhurnal: Ekonomika i finansy (Uzbekistan). 2019. №. 6. Р. 13-17 [in Russian].

4. Kaz'mina E.B. Razvitie uslug sel'skogo turizma v rossijskih regionah. [Development of rural tourism services in Russian regions]. Avtoref. diss. na soisk. uch. step. k.e.n. М. 2012. Р. 28-40.

5. Dubinicheva L.V., Sovetov P.M. Agroturizm v razvitii sel'skih territorij [Agritourism in the development of rural territories]. Problemy razvitiya territorii. – 2009. Т. 46. №. 2. Р. 48-55.

6. Truhachev A. V. Koncepcii i modeli razvitiya sel'skogo turizma za rubezhom. [Concepts and models of rural tourism development abroad]. Servis v Rossii i za rubezhom. – 2016. Т. 10. №. 7 (68). Р. 34-43 [in Russian].

7. USDA (Ministry of Agriculture). Available at: — URL: https://www.usda.gov// [in English]. (accessed: 15.02.2024)

8. Rural tourism. Available at: — URL: http://tourism.gov.in/TourismDivision/About [in English]. (accessed: 02.02.2024).

9. News, insights and resources for tourism and business events professionals Available at: — URL: https://www.visitbritain.org [in English]. (accessed: 05.02.2024).

10. Platnova Yu.V. Primenenie nemeckogo opyta razvitiya agroturizma v Yaroslavskoj oblasti Rossijskoj Federacii. [Application of German experience in the development of agrotourism in the Yaroslavl region of the Russian Federation]. Available at: — URL: https://tourlib.net/statti_tourism/platonova.htm [in Russian]. (accessed: 20.01.2024).

11. European Commission – Tourism: Официальный сайт ЕС по туризму. Available at: — URL: https://single-market-economy.ec.europa.eu/sectors/tourism_en [in English]. (accessed: 29.01.2024).

12. Ministry of Tourism. Available at: — URL: https://tourism.gov.in/ [in English]. (accessed: 15.02.2024).