THE CURRENT ECONOMIC STATE OF THE TOURISM INDUSTRY IN KAZAKHSTAN AND THE ASSESSMENT OF STRATEGIC INVESTMENTS IN ITS DEVELOPMENT (BASED ON MATERIALS FROM THE PAVLODAR REGION OF THE REPUBLIC OF KAZAKHSTAN)

The article examines the current state and economic trends in the functioning of the tourism industry in Kazakhstan. The object of the research is the economy of the Pavlodar region. The subject of the research is the tourism industry and strategic investments in its development. In the course of the study, special attention was focused on the dynamics of the nominal and real contribution of the tourism industry to the regional economy, the territorial distribution of tourism services and their structure, trends in employment and labor productivity, the production capacity of tourism organizations and the state of their fixed capital. When assessing the real contribution of the tourism industry to the development of the economy of the Pavlodar region, the dynamics of demand for tourist services from individuals and legal entities was investigated. For the development of the tourism industry, an integrated analytical assessment of strategic investments was carried out on the basis of forecasting the gross regional product and its growth rates, the share of tourism in the region’s economy, the dynamics of the volume of tourism services, and the return on assets of tourism organizations. Strategic investments in the development of the tourism industry are diversified in two priorities — fixed assets and human resources, including business processes. Implementation of the developed investment policy makes it possible to significantly increase the volume of tourism services in the region, triple labor productivity in the tourism industry, and strengthen the positive trends in the contribution of the tourism industry to the regional economy. The research carried out has a practice-oriented character. The research results will be used in the system of activities of the Regional Department of Tourism and Sports.