Burabay, November 7. Akmola Region Governor Marat Akhmetzhanov gave the start to construction of a multifunctional congress centre in the Burabay resort zone with a total area of 12,800 square metres and a 1,000-seat hall, the regional administration reported.
The project is part of the People’s Construction programme, which, according to the release, was initiated by the Head of State. Akhmetzhanov called the congress centre one of the programme’s first facilities and recalled that Burabay is one of Kazakhstan’s three priority tourist centres. In his words, new infrastructure is needed to receive guests all year round, not only in the holiday season.
The complex is designed as a multi-format venue: an auditorium for 1,000, a conference hall for 160 participants, exhibition spaces, a multimedia hall, a cafe, applied-arts workshops and studios for the creative industries. A separate place will go to the exhibition “Kazakhstan Panorama: Museums of the Regions” for 10,000 exhibits: in digital format, it will show the historical and cultural heritage of the country’s regions.
The complex is given a special role in developing MICE tourism, that is, business trips: conferences, exhibitions, corporate meetings and forums. This is meant to attract international organisations and business communities, raise the flow of visitors in the off-season and fill hotels and sanatoriums more evenly. Akhmetzhanov added that the project will give a boost to small and medium business, services, catering and transport, create jobs and attract investment. The cost of construction and the completion date are not given in the administration’s release.
What it means: Burabay, known as a resort of lakes and forest, gets a venue for forums and exhibitions with a 1,000-seat hall. The authorities want conference and exhibition participants to come in the off-season, when the resort is empty.
Who benefits: The resort’s hotels, sanatoriums and eateries: the authorities expect the off-season flow of guests to become more even. Organisers of forums and exhibitions, who will have their own large venue in the region. Regional museums, which get a digital hall.
Background: MICE stands for the English words meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions; this is how business tourism is described. Burabay is a resort zone in Akmola Region; nearby is Shchuchinsk, the administrative centre of Burabay District.
