Well, maybe Borat is not entirely positive for Kazakhstan’s tourism industry.
Comments made by Simon Anholt, a place branding and public diplomacy specialist, are causing a bit of a controversy in Montreal between the city’s mayor and the head of Tourisme Montreal. Apparently his first visit to Montreal elicited none-too-positive visions of Kazakhstan.
Last March, on his arrival in Montreal, Anholt said he “thought I’d come to the wrong country and landed in Kazakhstan.”
…
His “grey and grimy” taxi ride along Highway 20 into downtown from the airport triggered “a profound feeling of despair and surprise,” the British adviser to international governments confessed yesterday.
Charles Lapointe, the president and CEO of Tourisme Montreal passed on those comments to city business leaders on Tuesday, causing debate over Montreal’s cleanliness and the way it presents itself to visitors. The mayor attempted to have Lapointe ousted from his position over the remarks. When Anholt heard about the controversy his comments had caused, he went on, saying “I felt like I was being driven through the suburbs of Almaty.”
Ouch, that hurts. I mean, I know that Almaty’s rough around the edges, but comparing it to Montreal? That’s just mean.*
*Which I say not having ever been there. I’m sure it’s quite nice and worth a visit. My beefs with Almaty aside, it’s not so bad. Certainly beats the socks off of Dehli, especially when it comes to smell, and heaps of people go there.
UPDATE: I just saw that Sean Roberts has a related post.
This post was written by...
Nathan Hamm – author of 2040 posts on Registan.net.
Nathan founded Registan.net in 2003. He was a Peace Corps Volunteer in Uzbekistan 2000-2001 and received his MA in Central Asian Studies from the University of Washington in 2007. Since 2007, he has worked full-time as an analyst, consulting with clients on Central Asian affairs, specializing in how socio-cultural factors shape risks and opportunities. Follow him on Twitter or drop him a line.
{ 13 comments }
Almaty, needs alot of work. I lived there for a long time. It is a third world country with a little makeup.
Corrupt to the hills
I spent a week in Montreal for a conference. Small very pretty historic sections, but a lot of it is concrete-block architecture. Just like in Almaty, which nevertheless is much more pleasant to walk around. Also, I loved the mayor’s diplomatic reaction–We are NOT like Kazakhstan.
I take it Jeff has travelled extensively in Third World countries. I am very curious to what aspects of the Third World are present in Almaty. Corruption? Well, yes but measuring corruption is more about measuring its sophistication.
Um, perhaps it would be shorter and easier to start with which aspects of the third world are NOT present in Almaty…
Um, perhaps it would be shorter and easier to start with which aspects of the third world are NOT present in Almaty…
Still thinking…..
Really! This is quite funny. Have you spent ant time there?
I have lived in Almaty for three years and I support carbetblogger’s comment. Having been in Almaty as recently as January, 2007, I tell you that the air quality is worse than the worst town in China….thick with particle and automobile polution. Crime seems at all time high…day or night…and I don’t look much different than the average ethnic Russian there. Corruption stymies any opportunties for the least monied and the militia is the last place to look for help in a pinch. I would not reccomend it and I feel very bad for those people unable to leave.
Yeah but calling a city “3rd world” puts it in the same group as any number of African/Asian cities that are a whole lot worse off than Almaty… and I think more than a few Almatyians would take insult to that. ’3rd world’ is too broad of a term. I think you could call it a middle-income city in a middle-income country…. with many middle-income city problems.
I dunno, guys. Karaganda (especially the suburb Maikoduk) was terrible with crime, and one of the very few places where making one’s Americanness obvious actually saved you a great deal of trouble. Similarly, Astana as of 2003 was still really small, dull, and had nothing to do. Almaty was pretty and much more cosmopolitan—not as interesting to visit, but it struck me as more pleasant. And they had far fewer dirt roads through the slums.
Pls don’t call Kazakhstan as III World country, as PS student I can tell you 1st and 2nd worlds were the Western states and Warsaw Pact states and others were considered as 3rd one. So, don’t mix it up. Take your own way. Don’t like it don’t come. The less expats the more clear air. Expats come only to adopt children and to earn money.
Calling Almaty ’3rd world’ is as inaccurate as it is stupid. Is it perfect? Not even close. But ’3rd world’ suggests rampant disease, blight, and lack of any infrastructure – not to mention sophistication. The pollution issue is completely fair to address, but is such a comment credible if that person had not been in Almaty during the difficult transition of the early ’90s?
The positive to take away is that Almaty is now part of the discussion; and egos will get damaged at the Hokimiate before positive changes are made. But to say that Almaty is ‘third world…’ – regrets, that’s just plain stupid. And people who think that way should consider being part of the solution rather than the problem. Maybe Kanat is right – if you don’t like it, why don’t you leave? Given the inbound tourism numbers, the absence of one or two unenlightened, provincial guests won’t damage the economy.
Gee, if Almaty is the third world, what does that make Dushanbe?
Whatever happened to “second world”? Almaty has problems, BIG problems, but it’s not exactly Kabul, which is more like what Cohen describes when he pretends to be from Kazakhstan.
I would also like to take this opportunity to say once again that if the situation were reversed- a Muslim (or Christian) pretending to be a Jew and making such stereotypical, racist jokes about Jews, we would never have it, and he’d never be quoted by… anyone. I hate that character and despise the act. Boo, Cohen, get a real act, we’re sick of your cheap jibes on the Muslim world. Sorry, every time this comes up I feel I must say something.
Thanks for the post, Nathan.
I’ve never been to either of those cities. I think the problem lies in using one city to insult another. Why always the comparisons? I live in Omaha, Nebraska, and my city is often the one used as the insult.
It shows a scarcity of imagination to use places against one another like this. Instead of calling Montreal “Almaty,” why couldn’t the commentator have said, “The drive into town from the airport led treats the visitor to the full range of grays and depression.” Or something better (I don’t pretend mine is perfect)?
We constantly one-up each other all over the globe and then wonder why people can’t just get along.