Holding a session of the UN World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) General Assembly in Samarkand this fall will provide an opportunity to promote the country’s cultural and tourism potential abroad, President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev said.
“This year, our country will host a session of the General Assembly of the World Tourism Organization. Samarkand will become the capital of world tourism in 2023. This year should be the year of promoting the rich cultural and tourist potential of our country abroad,” Mirziyoyev said during the meeting, quoted by the official media of the republic on Thursday.
The President noted that as a result of the creation of a new tourist center in Samarkand, it became possible to attract an additional two million tourists to the city.
According to him, this year there is an opportunity to attract seven million foreign and 15 million domestic tourists, increase the export of the industry to $2.5 billion against $1.6 billion in 2022.
“The tourism potential of our country is far from being exhausted. There are many who wish to visit Uzbekistan. However, there is little content about places that may interest tourists, there are not enough offers that can encourage tourists to stay in our country for 4-5 days. There are problems with buying plane and train tickets several months in advance,” Mirziyoyev said.
During the meeting, it was stressed that in recent years five new private airlines have been created in the country, the domestic fleet has increased to 44 aircraft. At the same time, there was a shortage of domestic air and rail flights to tourist destinations.
The decision to hold the 25th session of the UN World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) General Assembly in Samarkand in 2023 was made at the previous session in December 2021 in Madrid.
There are more than 8 thousand cultural heritage sites and 122 museums in Uzbekistan.
