Kenzhebay Satzhanov, deputy chairman in Kazakhstan's tourism and sports ministry, said the
boost to tourism in Kazakhstan is due to British comic Sacha Baron Cohen's character, Borat, and not important social reforms like, "women now permitted to travel on inside of bus" and "homosexuals no longer have to wear blue hats." Although initially angered by the movie, the country has seen a 13% increase in tourism after the film. "The first glance was not of course positive, it cannot be because you see a lot of not so good things, but then, after that, when we start seeing interest in our country, it was of course reflected better, it was positive. People, after looking at this film, they will like to come and see: 'is it real, is it the same or not?' It helps to learn more about our country," said Satzhanov.