Agrotourism in Kazakhstan as a factor of economic empowerment of rural population

Abstract

Nowadays agrotourism is one of the most important tools for improving the image of the village and its attractiveness for economically active population, an effective mechanism for spreading entrepreneurship in rural areas and increasing economic opportunities for rural residents by diversifying the activities of peasant (farmer) farms. Purpose - the concept of "agrotourism", factors constraining the development of the industry are considered, new approaches to expanding the range of tourism services in rural areas of Kazakhstan on the basis of the model "One Village - One Product" (OVOP) are studied. Methods - empirical for the purpose of data selection, observation and research of specific phenomena, establishing links between them; statistical, economic analysis, logical - to identify general trends or effects, use of international experience and generalization of results. Results - the authors note that rural tourism in the country is fragmented, there is no concept and system principles in the tourism sector, which are the key barriers to the development of tourism agribusiness in the country. Popularization of the OVOP movement in the regions of the Republic of Kazakhstan will contribute to the creation of new jobs, the growth of rural people's welfare. It is shown that the agritourism sector is one of the rapidly developing directions in modern tourism. In Kazakhstan there are potential reserves of its wide distribution, which allow to diversify the tourist product and create an additional item of income to the budget of the republic. Conclusions - agrarian tourism is an important segment of modernization of agrarian sector economy, promising innovative rural entrepreneurship. The development of tourism infrastructure in rural areas contributes to the diversification of rural economy, increasing employment and income of rural population, increasing the number of small business enterprises, the volume of production of environmentally friendly products of private subsidiary plots and farms, reducing the outflow of rural population to the cities. Agritourism industry has a large reserve of natural and human resources. However, the authors state that farmers need information and consulting support of tourist firms.