Kazakh government: Still annoyed by Borat, but now raking it in
Kazakhstan, Media and Internet3 Comments
Photo (c) by Future Atlas
As covered in this blog and countless others, the government of Kazakhstan’s position on Borat, aka, Sasha Baron Cohen, has been one of theatrical proportions. The embassy even went so far as to state, “[Borat] claims that the Kazakhs are very anti-Semitic people and that running of the Jews is the famous pastime. That is, of course, ridiculous. Kazakhstan has a very vibrant Jewish community,” which, I guess is true if you count the forcible relocation by Stalin of Jews to the Kazakh SSR. But that’s neither here nor there.
The real story is that the government is now thawing and reversing its position on Borat, particularly as tourism rises. A recent article written by Russian journalist Grigory Pasko (RUS, ENG translation here) reflects the growing interest in Kazakhstan even from a Russian perspective. He writes in a half-amazed, half condescending tone about the third part of his trip,
From Russia to Almaty I flew on a half-empty airplane: Russians, apparently, know even without Borat what and how it’s really like there. In Almaty itself I was amazed by two things: the almost complete absence of automobiles produced by VAZ and GAZ [i.e. Russian cars--Trans.], and also the fact that drivers give the right of way to pedestrians (in Moscow this is encountered extremely rarely).
To read parts one and two (ENG), look here.
It would be interesting to compare Kazakh tourism numbers in 2007-2009 to those in 2006, the year before the movie came out. As it was, tourism increased by 13% in the second half of 2008 (Russia Today, ENG.) Unfortunately, hard tourism numbers for Kazakhstan are often hard to come by and if at all, are behind gated industry surveys. Of note is the estimate, “Online transactions for air travel are forecast to record double-digit annual growth to 2013.”
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[...] I also write for New Eurasia.net. My latest article there is how Kazakhstan is still making money off Borat. [...]
Thanks for linking over to Pasko’s article. He just published the final piece from his travelogue to Kazakhstan, including several interviews on the Zhovtis case and human rights in general.
http://www.robertamsterdam.com/2009/09/grigory_pasko_a_week_in_almaty_part_4.htm
Maybe some of these new tourists to Kaz can stop by the Zhovtis trial for a look into how a genuine political prisoner is created!
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[...] Vicky reports that that the government of Kazkahstan is now thawing and reversing its position on Borat, a comic character, as tourism rose by 13% last year. [...]