The allure that pulls tourists toward Astana
In the heart of Central Asia, Astana, the capital city of Kazakhstan, recently played host to a major event that left a significant impact on its economy and international standing. Comic Con Astana 2025, a five-day geek culture festival, attracted over 75,000 unique visitors, including 10,000 foreign tourists from 36 countries.
Held from July 9 to 13, the festival was a resounding success, contributing to both tourism and local business sectors. Organisers estimated that each foreign visitor spent around 118,000 KZT ($228) per day, with an average stay of three days. This spending translated into a total economic activity exceeding 3.5 billion KZT (nearly $7 million) through accommodation, food, transportation, entertainment, and shopping.
The festival's scale, using two large venues, Astana Arena and Barys Arena, and featuring international stars like Andy Serkis, helped boost the city's profile as a cultural and tourist hub. This aligns with Kazakhstan's broader economic trends in 2025, where the country is forecasted to achieve around 5% GDP growth, driven by multiple sectors including tourism.
Comic Con Astana is not a newcomer to the post-Soviet space, having debuted in Kazakhstan in 2019. It is the third city in the region to host Comic Con, following Moscow and Kyiv. The festival is expected to break records in terms of both the number of world-class events and the number of foreign guests. Over 120,000 visitors are expected, including 15,000 foreign guests.
Astana's development of tourism is focused on various sectors, including business, event, medical, gastronomic, and cultural-sports. Gastronomic tourism is on the rise, with over 2200 foodservice establishments currently operating, and the capital preparing to participate in the 50 Best Explore ranking. The city also aims to join the International Association for Accessible Tourism (ENAT) and become a smart tourist city (Smart City).
In addition to Comic Con, Astana hosted several other major events in 2025, such as the World Cup for Student Entrepreneurship Enactus, the 17th Asian Regional Conference on Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering, and the Congress of the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions, which attracted over 3,500 participants from 100 countries.
The city is also making strides in medical tourism, with over 4500 foreign patients visiting last year, double the number in 2023. Astana is developing scientific-educational tours for students from Kazakhstan to promote domestic tourism and position the city as an educational and scientific center.
Astana is also taking steps towards accessible and digital tourism, aiming to join the ENAT association, implement online booking of excursions, audio and AI guides, and navigation on popular tourist platforms. Industrial tourism is also actively developing, with excursions to enterprises and educational tours for regional schoolchildren from Kazakhstan starting as part of the Year of Labor Professions.
The goal in developing business tourism is to bid for conferences, exhibitions, and congresses. This strategy has already proven successful, as evidenced by the 80 MICE events held in the capital in 2024 with over 60,000 participants. This year, more than 80 MICE events are planned with an expected attendance of 150,000.
In an effort to further enhance Astana's status as a cultural centre, the city is collaborating with the International Association of Congresses and Conventions (ICCA), based in Amsterdam. Concerts by global stars such as Craig David and Jennifer Lopez will also take place in the summer, adding to the city's vibrant cultural scene.
In summary, Comic Con Astana 2025 injected millions of dollars into Kazakhstan's economy, bolstered international tourism, and enhanced Astana's status as a cultural center, supporting Kazakhstan's broader economic expansion in 2025. The city's strategic focus on various sectors of tourism, including business, event, medical, gastronomic, and cultural-sports, is expected to continue attracting major events and boosting the country's economy in the years to come.
The Comic Con Astana 2025 festival, with its focus on lifestyle, fashion-and-beauty, entertainment, and travel, significantly contributed to Astana's tourism sector by attracting over 10,000 foreign tourists and generating 3.5 billion KZT through spending on accommodation, food, transportation, and shopping. In addition to Comic Con, Astana hosted several major events in 2025, aiming to expand its international standing as a cultural and tourist hub, and further develop its lifestyle sectors such as gastronomy, medical tourism, and cultural events, in line with Kazakhstan's broader economic objectives.
