At the ski resort of Sjymbulaq, just over 3,200 meters above sea level, the ski season has just kicked off. SVT’s reporter Carl Fridh-Kleberg and photographer Zsolt Czinkócsky are here to explore one of the country’s new tourism initiatives.
– I think tourism will eventually become the first thing people associate with Kazakhstan, says Assel Issanova, human and nature manager at the Sjymbulaq ski resort,
Embracing the satirical film “Borat”
In the past, the country has grappled with another PR challenge that painted the country in the dark – namely the satirical film Borat from 2006. The film was initially banned, but by the time it was time for the sequel in 2020, they had re-evaluated their view and decided to use all positive PR.
– We took Borat’s “great” and made it the country’s slogan, says Kairat Sadvakassov at Kazakhstan’s state tourism organization.
See SVT.’s team on site reporting from the ski resort of Sjymbulaq in the video above.