Kanye West’s first solo concert in Central Asia delivered an estimated five billion tenge ($11 million) tourism boost to Almaty, drawing 31,000 spectators from more than 50 countries.
Hotel demand surged in the days surrounding the event, with average occupancy reaching about 98 per cent between 13 and 16 August. The concert was initially scheduled for 14 August but was postponed by one day as weather conditions deteriorated.
More than 4,400 people worked at the venue on the day of the concert, including security and police personnel, municipal services, medical teams, technical crews and stadium staff.
Organisers assembled the concert’s main spherical structure in just five days, while equipment was transported to Almaty on a cargo aircraft and seven trucks.
The event is the latest in a series of major international concerts driving significant economic activity in Kazakhstan.
Jennifer Lopez’s 2025 concert in Almaty generated nearly $21 million in overall economic turnover, while the Backstreet Boys’ performance in Astana generated an estimated $17.1 million in broader economic impact.
Kazakhstan has continued to expand its international concert calendar in 2026, hosting performances by Deep Purple, Megadeth and Ricky Martin, as well as festivals featuring artists including Flo Rida, Busta Rhymes, Tyga and Nicole Scherzinger.
Enrique Iglesias is scheduled to perform in September, while Park Live Almaty runs from 21 to 23 August.
West’s Central Asian performance followed the cancellation of several European shows.
Concerts in France, Poland, Italy and the Czech Republic were called off, while the UK’s Wireless Festival was cancelled after West was denied entry to the country on grounds that his presence would not be “conducive to the public good”.
West is also scheduled to perform two concerts in St Petersburg, Russia, in October. The shows would make him one of the most prominent Western artists to perform in Russia since the start of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
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Shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz remains limited on Thursday, with no increase in vessel crossings as U.S.-Iran talks to resolve the conflict remained stalled. Nine commodity vessels transited the key waterway on Wednesday, unchanged from the previous day, according to Kpler data.
Shipping through the Strait of Hormuz has slowed, according to the latest data, as uncertainty over the waterway’s reopening kept most shipowners away. Six commodity vessels crossed the strait on Tuesday, down from nine the day before and below the 10-day daily average of 11.
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