Russia-administered Baikonur, a city in Kazakhstan famous for its spaceport, is unlikely to see new hotels unless tourists begin visiting the site more often, according to the Russian news agency RIA Novosti, citing the city’s mayor Konstantin Busygin.
According to him, the recent launch of the Soyuz MS-27 spacecraft attracted around 2,500 tourists, setting a new visitor record. All the hotels in both the city and the spaceport were sold out two months before the launch, forcing several guests to stay in the nearby villages of Toretam and Akay, or even in the more remote Zhosaly.
However, tourists visit the city only during launches. At other times, hotels sit empty, while their owners continue to bear maintenance costs. This is why entrepreneurs are not interested in building new hotels.
«If there are more launches, or if Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Tourism and Sports manages to implement its project to organize short tours to Baikonur and the spaceport during the off-launch season, then we may expect interest from entrepreneurs,» Busygin stated.
The official added that a hotel called Galaxy, located in 5a Microdistrict, opened its doors in 2021 and is the most recently established venue to date. At the same time, older hotels are scheduled for renovation using funds generated by the tourist tax introduced in early 2025.
Baikonur lures tourists from all over the world with the world’s largest spaceport — the very site that launched the first man into space, Yuri Gagarin. On top of that, on June 2, the city established an open-air space museum to commemorate the cosmodrome’s 70th anniversary.
