When the first “Borat” movie by English comedian Sacha Baron Cohen was released in 2006, Kazakhstan officials were deeply offended. So much so that the film was banned in the country. But comes 2020 and Kazakhstan tourism industry officials changed their minds: “Very nice” is now the official slogan used in promotions to attract tourists.

Kazakhstan officials use “Borat” popularity to attract tourists to the country

The new tourism campaign to attract foreign visitors was launched in October 2020, just as the second installation of the famous “Borat” movie was released by Amazon, KP.ua reported.

It’s a story in the spirit of the old idea, “If life gave you lemons, make lemonade”.

In 2006 Kazakhstan officials were upset by the way Kazakhstan and its people were portrayed in the movie as backward and obsolete. This time the officials decided to take advantage of the film’s popularity and capitalize on its fame.

In fact, in just 6 years after “Borat” Kazakhstan officials realized the movie made the country famous: 10 times more tourist visas had been issued in 2012 as compared to 2006.

The relatively unknown republic of Central Asia become famous, thanks to an English comedian picking it as the motherland of one of his characters.

The new tourism ministry campaign features several videos where tourists discover various places in Kazakhstan and say the famous line, “Very nice!”

Even the minister of foreign affairs of Kazakhstan Erzhan Kazykhanov admitted being thankful to “Borat” for attracting tourists to the country.

After the movie “Borat” was released, Kazakhstan became attractive for foreign tourists. The phrase “Very nice” is now the advertising slogan for the campaign.

Borat’s phrase “Very nice” depicts the giant tourism potential of the country, the Vice Chairman of Kazakhstan Tourism Kairat Sadvakassov stated.

The authors of the new advertising campaign believe that there is a new generation of Kazakhs that grew up since the first Borat film. They love the character and its humor, and they are not offended by the jokes.

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