Modern challenges of creating tourism brand of Kazakhstan

The article is dedicated to studying contemporary situation and problems of tourism brand development in Kazakhstan. The results of the conducted survey have show that consumers are interested in such tourist-and-recreational resources as natural reserves and national parks and monuments, the Yassavi mausoleum, the branded direction – Borovoye and the mountains, as well as the symbol of the country could become the Golden man or the snow leopard. The research is based on authors own empirical research on the issues regarding tourists awareness and preferences, as well as experts’ survey. The empirical research was provided based on literature review, primary data (in form of tourists surveys), secondary data collection, analysis and synthesis. To survey tourists a structured questionnaire was designed; 96 people were surveyed, including 55 women and 41 men as a random sampling. The experts’ survey was conducted in free form, and eight experts were surveyed. As was evidenced by the study results, international tourists are particularly interested in authentic cuisine as well as activities. Moreover, the research revealed that a gap between the way Kazakhstan officially defines its identity and the actual brand image the country has for now as a tourist destination.