Promote your country and entrepreneurs: Jeff Hoffman on Kazakhstan’s path to global recognition

Kazakhstan has gained a lot of attention recently thanks to high-profile concerts and the recent Kairat–Real Madrid game. How do you think these events are influencing travel and the country’s image abroad, especially from an American perspective?

— Not just for Kazakhstan but for all of Central Asia, there’s a marketing problem and a branding problem — and I told this to the mayor of Almaty yesterday.

First of all, it’s amazing to be here. Yesterday we took a short break and went up to the mountains again. They’re stunning. I really like Almaty; there’s so much to do and so many reasons to visit Kazakhstan.

However, I didn’t know any of that until I came here — and that’s the missed opportunity. Tourism is vital for every country, but people don’t visit Kazakhstan enough simply because they don’t know what it offers. They don’t know how beautiful it is, or how friendly and welcoming the people are.

So, as I said to the mayor, once the country, its cities, and the whole region begin to market themselves better globally, people will realize, “This is the real Kazakhstan.”

Travel will grow, hotel bookings will increase — I already see you’re expanding capacity — and visitors will come once they understand why they should. You have skiing right outside the city, which is incredible. There’s huge potential for tourism growth here, and I believe spending and investment will follow naturally.

So your advice would be to strengthen the marketing efforts?

— Exactly. Kazakhstan needs more exciting tourism campaigns — ones that could even start with the message “The Kazakhstan You Never Knew.” You already know how great your country is, but the rest of the world doesn’t.

When I first came here, I did some research, and the information available online — even the content published by Kazakhstan itself — didn’t reflect how amazing this place truly is. There’s a big opportunity to do better travel marketing. If you do, people will respond.

Now, with this being your fourth visit, what would you highlight as the biggest selling point — or key marketing message — for those who don’t know much about Kazakhstan but should?

— One of the biggest ones is your natural beauty. Seeing the snow-capped mountains for the first time is breathtaking. Even in summer, taking the ski lift up and enjoying the scenery is amazing — and it’s all so close to the city. Kazakhstan offers fantastic outdoor experiences, and people just need to discover them.

Another important point — though harder to market — is the warmth of your people. I travel a lot, and I always notice how I’m treated. I love coming here because everyone’s friendly, kind, and helpful. When you travel, that’s what you want — to feel welcome.

Here, people greet me, ask questions, and show genuine interest. That’s something to be proud of. The kindness of your people and your natural beauty are, to me, Kazakhstan’s two biggest assets.

The next question relates to something you said earlier on stage — that we need to promote our entrepreneurs as “rock stars.” Could you elaborate on that? What’s your impression of Kazakh entrepreneurs? This is your second forum — have you noticed any change since your last visit?

— What I said on stage is that one thing the United States did really well was turning entrepreneurs into rock stars. Our biggest innovators — Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, and others — are as famous as Beyoncé.

That’s actually smart. It shows how much the country values innovation and gives young people role models to look up to. They see that society appreciates those who create, solve problems, and make life better.

Now, to be fair, that’s a more American personality — the whole “look at me” attitude. But what we’re really asking is not for people to promote themselves; we’re asking the media to say, “Hey, look at them — they’re local innovators.”

I’ve met so many Kazakhs this week who had lived abroad and decided to return home to build their companies. That’s phenomenal — and those stories need to be told.

Ask them, “Why did you come back? You could have built your company anywhere.” Their answers will reveal why Kazakhstan is worth investing in and building in.

Talent leaves countries when people don’t see anyone like them succeeding. But when you showcase local success stories, others start thinking, “If she did it here in Kazakhstan, I can too.”

That’s why it’s so important to make heroes out of your entrepreneurs. I’ve met some truly impressive people here. Honestly, I hadn’t heard about them before coming — because the media doesn’t tell those stories enough. And I kept thinking, “That’s amazing — why did I never hear about this before?”

Last year, Kazinform News Agency published another interview with Hoffman, where he discussed Kazakhstan’s investment potential and opportunities for supporting local projects.