Tashkent, 12 October 2023 (TDI): Under the chairmanship of the President of Uzbekistan, Shavkat Mirziyoyev, a video selector meeting was held on October 11, to discuss exploring new opportunities for increasing tourism in Uzbekistan.
The meeting was centered on discussing the issues of fully utilizing the potential of tourism and cultural centers and organizing the autumn season of the nationwide project “Green Space”.
Firstly, it was noted that a favorable opportunity exists to attract tourists from neighboring countries, Russia and China.
In particular, it was highlighted that various regions of Uzbekistan have established cooperation with the provinces of China creating the possibility of attracting 1 million tourists from China per year.
Besides that, it was shared that the number of tourists from India, Japan, the USA, and Italy has increased 3-4 times with 40,000 tourists from Spain visiting Khorezm alone.
In this course, it was pointed out that Spanish tourists overspend by coming through transit, but if a flight from Madrid to Uzbekistan is launched, then the tour operators have expressed their readiness to increase the number of tourists by 4 times.
Therefore, the Ministry of Transport was instructed to take measures to increase air traffic together with Uzbek ambassadors abroad.
During the meeting, it was also set forth that from October 16-20, the General Assembly of the World Tourism Organization will be held in Samarkand for the first time which will enhance the tourism potential.
More than 1,000 participants from 128 countries are expected to attend, including 79 tourism ministers and 24 deputy ministers.
Moreover, it was emphasized that it is necessary to attract industry representatives from the Republic of Karakalpakstan and the regions, to demonstrate the history, nature, culture, shrines, food, tourist places, and routes of each region, to propose projects, and to reach agreements.
Besides that, it was focused that cultural events are another major direction for attracting tourists.
Based on the experience of organizing festivals in Karakalpakstan and other regions of Uzbekistan, a task was given to the attendees of the meeting to increase the number of cultural events that attract tourists in the rest of the regions.
The Uzbek President paid special attention to the role of cinematography in the image of the country, and the Ministry of Culture and the Cinematography Agency were given instructions in this regard.
With the participation of experts from the “Silk Road” International University of Tourism in the meeting, the task was set to improve the quality of service and the skills and culture of industry employees.
The issues of reviving local parks and recreation parks, organizing thematic tourism streets, and providing artistic teams with clothes and accessories were also discussed.
The work within the national project “Green Space” was also discussed at the meeting.
During the last 2 years, more than 1,200 hectares of green gardens and public parks, and more than 1 million hectares of green areas and pavements were established.
From October 25 to December 1, the “autumn tree planting season” was also announced with 85 million saplings planned to be planted this season.
For this purpose, the Republican headquarters will be formed, and the heads of the Academy of Sciences, Institutes of Soil Science and Forestry, and Forestry will be included in it.
About 200 saplings will be delivered to each neighborhood free of charge by the Forestry Agency.
Also, from October 15, a seedling fair will be organized in all districts and neighborhoods.
Also read: Uzbekistan to host Tashkent International Tourism Fair
To increase the interest in planting seedlings, land along roads, railways, rivers, and canals will be distributed to residents and entrepreneurs based on a contract without changing the category of land.
The funds from the Public Works Fund of the Ministry of Employment will now be given to the neighborhoods themselves and directed to tree planting, maintenance, and cleaning activities.
It was proposed also proposed in the meeting to provide the same services private sector as an experiment.
The officials in the meeting were instructed to work out the conditions and financing procedure in specification to the foregoing proposals.
