Romania is participating for the first time in the Kazakhstan International Exhibition „Tourism & Travel” (KITF), with steps being taken to introduce a direct flight between the two countries, secretary general of the Romanian Hospitality Industry Federation (FPIOR), Corina Martin, announced on Thursday.

„We have come up with a concept for the first time in Romania’s tourism promotion strategy and we are approaching an extremely important tourist market, where we have not promoted ourselves until now. The major objective that we have publicly announced, as a strategic intention, since 2021, and on which we are working in a working group – is to introduce a direct flight between Romania and Kazakhstan, a project in which we have managed to attract the attention and support of the Romanian and Kazakh authorities. We initiated the liaison and the campaign to attract SCAT Airlines to Romania, with which we have now held our first official meeting here, with an entire Kazakh team led by the owner of the airline. SCAT Airlines is a Kazakh civilian airline, based in Shymkent International Airport in Shymkent, Kazakhstan and operates flights between the main cities of Kazakhstan and neighbouring countries,” Corina Martin, who is also Honorary Consul of the Republic of Kazakhstan in Romania, said in a press release.

At the moment, the approaches made are aimed at the airports in Constanta and Bucharest.

According to Corina Martin, the leadership of SCAT Airlines have accepted an invitation extended by the Romanian Airports Association (AAR) and FPIOR to attend the next AAR national aviation conference in Iasi, Romania, from 27 to 29 May.

„Nowadays, the Port of Constanta has become a major hub for the movement of goods between the Caucasus Basin and Western Europe, which has led to a substantial increase in the volume of business trips between Kazakhstan and Romania, and Kazakh officials and business people are discovering with amazement Romania, a country that has never been promoted in Kazakhstan before. (… ) I think it is time to address a niche market and a real opportunity – to attract Kazakh tourists and visitors to holiday destinations and cities in Romania. (…) No project and no strategy to attract tourists and promotion between two countries is successful and far-reaching, however, without direct and easy air connections,” Corina Martin had previously declared.

AGERPRES