Not all tourists have knowledge of the history of the Uzbek people, but many of them express interest in it. Thus they are willing to make tours to our country to see first-hand the surviving ancient buildings, to experience the rich cultural heritage of our people.
The year-by-year growing influx of tourists to Uzbekistan from Europe and Asia, Russia and the United States owes by and large to the wide range of possibilities offered today by this sector of the Uzbek economy.
Elaboration of the action plan is in full swing in the country designed to bolster the development of tourism, and among the discussed topics are the activities that would facilitate logistics operations, ensure the safety, life and health of foreign tourists. A number of new charter flights are being arranged to attract them, while Uzbek travel agents have been organizing tours, transfers and accommodation for their passengers.
Instrumental in this process has been the newly established State Committee for Tourism Development. During special meetings with chiefs of diplomatic missions accredited in Uzbekistan, Chairman of the Committee Anvar Sharapov informs the guests about the progress of the reforms and the pace of evolution of the tour sector in the country, the measures taken by the government to radically improve the travel infrastructure.
During the talks with Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Korea Kwon Yong-woo and Minister-Counselor of the embassy Choi Jong-ho, the committee management paid special attention to the establishment of close contacts between tourism administrations and the travel business industry and proposed to boost the inflow of South Korean investments into the implementation of projects for construction of new and reconstruction of the existing tourist facilities. According to A. Sharapov, it will have a positive impact on the industry representatives’ participation in major tourism-related events held in bоth countries. In this regard, the Uzbek side handed over to the guests invitations to participate in the International Uzbek Tourism Exhibition (IUTE) scheduled for April 2017, and offered as part of the exhibition to organize meetings in B2B format.
Regarding the proposals of the Uzbek side the head of the diplomatic mission expressed readiness to attract Korean investors to build hotels and other tourist facilities in Uzbekistan.
Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of France to Uzbekistan Violaine de Villemeur, at a meeting with the leadership of Uzbekistan’s State Committee for Tourism Development, noted the importance of granting the tourism sector the status of a strategic segment of economy. The diplomat said that in February this year, a French specialist in mountain tourism is expected to visit Uzbekistan to inspect Chimgan-Charvak resort and recreation area for the purposes of studying the prospects of active tourism, which also involves the development of projects on travel and leisure activities in this realm and attracting foreign investment for their implementation.
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In 2015, the number of foreign tourists visiting Uzbekistan grew by 5% in relation to 2014 figures. Most of them were from Germany, Russia, Republic of Korea, France, Japan
