For Make Benefit Glorious Nation Of Kazakhstan
It seems that Kazakhstan is having quite the tourist boom.
From
The UK Sun:
Borat causes tourism boom
It’s been dubbed the Borat Bounce.
Kazakhstan — ridiculed in the smash hit movie featuring Sacha Baron Cohen’s outrageous TV reporter — is having the last laugh as tourists flock there to see what all the fuss is about.
The central Asian republic, the ninth largest country in the world, was virtually a tourist-free zone until the film’s success.
National leaders had been concerned the mickey-taking movie, Borat: Cultural Learnings Of America For Make Benefit Glorious Nation Of Kazakhstan, would damage the country’s reputation.
Erlan Idrissov, Kazakhstan’s ambassador to Britain, had said: “Many Kazakhs who have seen Borat on television have been offended.”
But now the reverse is happening. Since the film premiered last year, a new poll has found that thousands of travellers worldwide have nominated Kazakhstan as their No1 MUST-SEE destination for 2007.
As a result, the national airline, Air Astana, has added a third weekly flight from the UK. Major international chains have opened plush new hotels in the big cities of Almaty and Astana.
Heh... Very cool -- probably a fascinating place to visit, interesting history and geology.
Posted by DaveH at March 5, 2007 1:53 PM