Ecological tourism as a factor of rural region development of the Republic of Kazakhstan

Abstract

The study was carried out within the framework of program-targeted funding by the Committee of Science of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Kazakhstan ("Development of the concept and mechanisms of balanced territorial development of the economy and society of Kazakhstan"). The purpose of the study is to determine the role and significance of the development of ecological tourism in the Republic of Kazakhstan as a factor in the diversification of the sectoral structure of the country's rural economy. The study used a structuralfunctional approach, a review of scientific publications, including foreign authors from the Scopus, Web of Science databases; state programs and regulatory legal acts of the Republic of Kazakhstan on this issue in the Republic of Kazakhstan, statistical data. The article provides a comprehensive analysis of the theoretical foundations of economic diversification and its benefits. The theoretical and methodological aspects of the development of ecological tourism as a factor in the socio-economic development of rural areas have been studied. As part of the state program for the development of the tourism industry of the Republic of Kazakhstan for 2019–2025, tools have been proposed for transforming tourism into a highly profitable sector of the economy, the tasks of which include the creation of 75 thousand jobs in remote rural areas. The authors of the article consider the issues of priority of the development of rural areas, the need to find ways to normalize living conditions and economic growth, which should be the diversification of the economy. Tourist and recreational resources that provide the regions of the country necessary for the development of ecotourism were identified and substantiated.