Almaty focuses on accommodation in Olympic bid

Almaty is hoping that its recent increase in hotel room supply will convince the International Olympic Committee that it is ready to host the 2022 Winter Olympics.

Kazakhstan’s largest city is going head-to-head with Beijing in the race to host the Games, with the winner to be announced at the end of this month. And Almaty’s officials say the city has developed a “robust accommodation plan” to meet the needs of athletes, officials and spectators.

“Tourist arrivals to Almaty have been steadily growing over the past years. Besides housing for the city’s growing population, the demand for hotels across all categories is rising. The Almaty 2022 Games Accommodation plan is in line with our long term city development plan,” said Rosa Assanbayeva, president of Kazakhstan Tourism Association.

Existing international hotel brands in Almaty include Ritz-Carlton, InterContinental, Holiday Inn, Best Western, Golden Tulip, Ramada and Rixos. And the city says it has secured “legally binding guarantees” from hotel owners, real estate developers and city authorities for the addition of more than 31,000 rooms.

The city’s room inventory is seeing annual growth rates of almost 11%.

Almaty’s accommodation plan for the Games includes 10,580 rooms in Olympics Villages, 15,475 rooms in newly-built serviced apartments, and 5,175 rooms in existing hotels and resorts in all categories.

“Almaty’s guarantees exceed all IOC requirements. All client groups will find comfortable accommodation in our city across all categories – from five-star hotels to university residences for low-budget visitors. All rooms are either already built, under construction, planned or guaranteed by individual contracts,” said Akhmetzhan Yessimov, the Mayor of Almaty.

The host city for the 2022 Winter Olympics will be elected on 31 July 2015, at the 128th IOC Session in Kuala Lumpur.