Tourism: an important area of ​​economic and cultural cooperation

The nineteenth Tashkent International Tourism Fair "Tourism on the Silk Road" opened in Tashkent on October 8.

The opening ceremony of the fair, organized by the "Uzbektourism" National Company and "Buyuk ipak Yuli" advertising agency with the support of the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO ), was attended by representatives of domestic and foreign travel agencies and companies, hotels, tourism specialists and representatives of diplomatic corps, accredited in our country.

Chairman of the "Uzbektourism" National Company Farrukh Rizaev, Deputy Minister of Foreign Economic Relations, Investments and Trade of Uzbekistan Bakhtiyor Abdusamadov, executive director of the World Tourism Organization Zoltan Somogyi and others emphasized that under the leadership of President Islam Karimov, works on tourism development in Uzbekistan makes its high results. The creation of new tourist routes, laying transport links help to increase the flow of tourists to Uzbekistan, development of domestic tourism, creating jobs and raising living standards.

Uzbekistan is among the ten leading countries of the world in scale of tourism and the number of historical monuments. There are more than four thousand historical and cultural monuments in our country. Samarkand, Bukhara, Khiva and Shakhrisabz are included in the UNESCO World Heritage List. Peace and stability, the atmosphere of mutual respect and harmony, a world famous Uzbek hospitality makes Uzbekistan even more attractive to tourists from all over the world.

For the purpose of consistent development of tourism infrastructure in the country new modern hotels, recreational facilities, dramatically improving service, have been built. Currently there are more than 800 tourist organizations, in particular, over 500 hotels, tourist camps and campgrounds, nearly 300 travel companies in Uzbekistan.

In order to promote tourism potential of Uzbekistan abroad and to increase the flow of tourists to our country, domestic tourist organizations regularly participate in major international travel fairs held in Madrid, Riga, Berlin, Paris, Tokyo and London. In all regions of the country targeted programs for the development of tourism, including ecotourism, mountain climbing, horse- riding tours, camel safari, jeep safari, off-road-tours , fishing, rafting, geo-tourism, cultural, educational and other new types of tourism, are implemented.

The legal framework of tourism has also been consistently improving. In particular, the decree of the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Uzbekistan "On measures to further support and development of tourism in the Republic of Uzbekistan" of 10 October 2012 aimed at supporting the development of tourism and tourism infrastructure , active promotion of national tourism services to international tourism markets .

According to specialists, the development of domestic tourism plays an important role in the implementation of the tourism potential of the country. To make a new tourism product a success, one must first attract the attention of local tourists and then offer it to foreigners.

Consistent works on the development of new tourist routes, creation of historical and archaeological reserves, facilities services, development of tourism and tourist services in rural areas, installation of modern highways creates favorable conditions for the full implementation of the existing potential.

Professional colleges in Tashkent, Samarkand, Bukhara and Khiva, the Faculty of Tourism of the Tashkent State Economic University, Samarkand Institute of Economics and Service , as well as Management Development Institute of Singapore in Tashkent trains specialists in the areas of tourism marketing and management services, international tourism, hospitality and restaurant industry.

Cooperation between Uzbekistan and the World Tourism Organization is also on the increase. In May of this year during the 95th Session of the Executive Council of the World Tourism Organization in Belgrade, Serbia a subsidiary of the "Uzbektourism" National Company - State Unitary Enterprise "Advertising Agency "Buyuk ipak Yuli" became a member of the UNWTO, which is another testimony of strengthening effective partnership. For the purpose of popularization of historical and cultural heritage of Uzbekistan, as well as the development of the tourism industry, it was decided to hold the 99th session of the UNWTO Executive Council in Samarkand in October 2014.

Uzbekistan, together with UNWTO regularly hosts international tourism fairs, conferences and seminars. These include traditional Tashkent International Tourism Fair "Tourism on the Silk Road."

The fair brings together companies from around the world, providing all kinds of travel services, and is the most visited travel fair Central Asian region. It is designed for a wide range of domestic and foreign travel specialists to provide an opportunity to get acquainted with the tourist potential of Uzbekistan, contribute to the further development of tourism in our country.

The current fair is attended by representatives of more than 700 companies from more than 40 countries, such as Uzbekistan, China, Switzerland , France, Azerbaijan, India, Malaysia, United Arab Emirates, Thailand , Singapore, Russia , Romania, Czech Republic, Israel, Italy , Iran, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan .

Tashkent International Tourism Fair has covered all modern trends in the tourism industry . It presents tour operators, travel agents, major networks of hotels and private hotels, motels, resorts, trucking companies, airlines, global ordering system, software and other business travel services, museums, and businesses that provide services in the field of cultural entertainment and recreation, modern current technologies in the field. The exhibition is divided into sections in such areas as business, environmental, sports and educational tourism, tours, cruises, hotel and restaurant services, industrial real estate and insurance, health improvement.

The fair has a national pavilion "Travelling in Uzbekistan", which features dozens of travel companies and companies from all regions of the country. The exhibition brings together education and health centers, theaters, museums, travel agencies, regional offices of "Uzbektourism" , Association of Private Tourist Organizations of Uzbekistan.

The national pavilion visitors can also see the economic and investment potential of Uzbekistan. "Festival of the national dishes" and  "Bazaar" expositions provide the Uzbek national dish, the generous gifts of our land. At the "Artisan’s borough” fair visitors will see the national handicraft products made ​​by craftsmen.

The concert program with participation of domestic and foreign artists, demonstrations of the Uzbek national dresses, no doubt, will make a great impression on guests.

As part of the Tashkent International Tourism Fair presentations of the best tourist destinations, companies and hotels, competitions for the best booth, will be held.

The current three-day fair will also allow the world's leading experts to share experiences, discuss current issues of the industry, to demonstrate new features. It is expected that many agreements on cooperation will be signed during the fair.

On this day an international scientific-practical conference "Development of tourism infrastructure and increasing the role of ecotourism in the modernization of the economy" took place. Organized by the "Uzbektourism" National Company and the Tashkent State Economic University, the conference pointed out that our country pays special attention to the development of ecotourism, has been steadily increasing its ecotourism potential, further improving the organizational- legal, socio - economic framework in this direction.

The conference also discussed the gradual development of tourism in Uzbekistan, in particular the stability of the ecosystem, reducing the negative impact of human factors on the environment, disposal of waste.