Shymbulak wins international SKI BUSINESS AWARDS 2026

The Velvet Shymbulak Club programme was recognised for developing tourist services and introducing new service standards.

Shymbulak mountain resort has won the SKI BUSINESS AWARDS 2026. The awards ceremony took place in Moscow on October 28.

Author: Робот Source: Almaty City Akimat, Kazakhstan

Ski slopes and a cable car at Shymbulak mountain resort — Shymbulak mountain resort has won the international SKI BUSINESS AWARDS 2026. Illustrative photo. Photo: Matti Blume / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0

Shymbulak mountain resort has been named a winner of the international industry SKI BUSINESS AWARDS 2026. Its Velvet Shymbulak Club programme received the award for developing tourist services and introducing new service standards, Almaty’s tourism department said.

The ceremony was held in Moscow on October 28 as part of the Forum of Tourist Territories. This is Shymbulak’s fifth award in the competition; the resort previously won in various categories in 2021, 2023, 2024 and 2025.

The resort’s international recognition comes as the Almaty mountain cluster is being developed. The project calls for 32 new cable cars, ski runs extended to 151 km and an increase in the resort infrastructure’s daily capacity from 6,000 to 30,000 people.

Work is currently under way at Shymbulak and in the Butakovka and Kimasar gorges. Two new cable cars and an expanded ski area are planned at the resort by the end of 2026.

The mountain cluster project aims to support year-round recreation, ease pressure on existing infrastructure and make mountain resorts more accessible to residents and tourists.

Almaty’s tourism department says expanded infrastructure will allow the resort to host more visitors, develop tourist services and create new jobs.

Translated from Russian using artificial intelligence. Source: Almaty City Akimat, Kazakhstan