Government Boosts Medical Tourism Efforts in North Kazakhstan

pantotherapyThe industry of pantotheraphy, the use of an extract from the horns of the maral, will develop in northern Kazakhstan and the Aiyrtau area will see a new tourism project, according to the press service of the Committee for Tourism Industryof the Ministry of Industry and New Technologies. The official opening of a core tourism project in the Aiyrtau area of the region was based on one of the recreation sites.

Native to Kazakhstan, and most widespread in the Altai Mountains, the maral is a large, semi-wild deer. Its horns, called “panty,” are the young, ossified, growing horns of adult male deer that are covered with velvety bristles, with plenty of symmetrically-arranged outgrowths. The antlers contain a biologically-active medicinal substance in combination with hormonal properties. Maral breeders say that the secret lies in a special root that the deer eat, which grows only in the Altai and the Far East.

The Aiyrtau area will be positioned as a tourism cluster in northern Kazakhstan. Today, there are 23 recreational facilities and about 40 tourist sites. A master plan is envisioned for the development of the cluster. It will be set up as a special portal for tourists and promises a huge potential boost for the region.

The government’s official statement states that “there are plans to develop medical, cultural, historical, environmental and other types of tourismin the region. Particular attention will be paid to the development of medical tourism. Pantotheraphy will be actively developed, in particular during the planning of the 2014-2015 maral breeding season.”

Pantotheraphy is developed today in East Kazakhstan, where every year hundreds of people travel for treatment. During the spring season, the antlers are soft, rich in nutrients and contain trace elements and hormones with a huge biologically-stimulating multilateral force.


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