The article examines the issues surrounding tourist activity and social interest in agritourism among residents of the main cities in Kazakhstan. Based on the survey results among a group of n = 577 respondents, the article inspected the extent of their participation in rural tourism, including agritourism, as well as their preferences and expectations regarding the type and extent of services offered on tourist farms. Research results show that the interest of city residents in using agritourism farm services is limited despite of a generally positive attitude towards rural tourism. Potential tourists’ expectations of agritourism farm services focus primarily on the quality of accommodations and the sanitary conditions present in the facilities providing them. Domestic tourists especially expect to be able to take advantage of natural products with medicinal and cosmetic properties. They view active forms of leisure as a mere supplement. The respondents’ opinions and assessments can determine the ways agritourism farms adapt to this clientele as well as impact organisational decisions and strategic planning of rural tourism in the country.

Joining of Kazakhstan to the Bologna three-cycle system increased significantly the number of programs taught in English language. There are about 40 universities which have special groups, where English is used as the medium of instruction and it makes more than 30% from total educational program. Quantity of the Bachelor, Master and PhD programs are growing dramatically. Some universities see an opportunity to attract a wider range of students or feel that EMI strengthens offer to those students who believe studying in English will make them more employable. EMI can be seen as a threat to the status and development of the local language. On the other hand, EMI can also be treated as an opportunity. This article offers review of issues related with applying EMI in Kazakhstan HEIs.

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The article covers the problem of indicating the landscape-ecological state of the territorial-recreational system using the GIS technologies. Regularities for reaction of a complex natural indicator (landscape) and private indicators (its components) to a multi-factorial anthropogenic load are an important direction for determining the conditions of the landscape-ecological state (LES) of the territorialrecreational system (TRS). The authors describe the process of studying the environmentally-related problems in development of Kazakhstan' territorial-recreational systems within the framework of the system paradigm. It is noted that Kazakhstan is a country of mixed tourist-recreational development because its space does not have a clear internal dominant, but is characterized by the presence of territories with development of tourism of different types. According to the degree of touristrecreational development, the territory is divided into well-developed suburban areas, protected areas, lake coasts, and a poorly or practically undeveloped main part. The map of Kazakhstan' ecological-recreational zoning is developed as a result of calculating the certain indicators in points. The assessment of functional limitations for development of the recreation and tourism industry in each Kazakhstan' administrative-territorial unit was made by use of a uniform five-point scale based on three key indicators. Detailed indication of the landscape-ecological state was performed for Shuchinsk-Borovoe TRS using GIS technologies. The software platform for creating maps was ESRI's ArcGIS 11. Route studies were conducted. The map of nature users and landscape-ecological state of Shuchinsk-Borovoe TRS is described. Кeywords: indication; landscape-ecological state; territorial-recreational system; tourism; GIS technologies; Kazakhstan