Uzbekistan, Tashkent, November 3 / Trend, D. Azizov /
Uzbekistan plans to attract more than 2 million foreign tourists annually by 2015, as reported in materials of national tourism authority Uzbekturizm released at the 17th Tashkent International Tourism Fair "Silk Way Tourism".
Uzbekturizm reports about 1 million foreign tourists visited Uzbekistan in 2010, and the figure is expected to exceed 1.3 million in 2012.
Special low demand offers designed for foreign tourism agencies, and leaders of tourism companies and journalists will be put into effect in Uzbekistan in the near future to attract a larger number of tourists. They will be offered very low hotel prices and there will be special tourism packages for railway travelers.
Up to now, most popular tours amongst foreign tourists in Uzbekistan were trips to Tashkent, Samarkand, Bukhara and Khiva - the most ancient historic centers of the country.
Development of diversified tours is currently underway in Uzbekistan to make the country a year-round tourism site. Pedestrian tours toward the Mountains of Tyan-Shan, Psckem and Ugam, jeep safaris and rafting on river mountains may become new products of adventure tourism in Uzbekistan and help attract young tourists.
It is planned to conclude about 100 agreements between Uzbek and foreign companies to provide the international-level marketing of such tours at the sidelines of the Fair. Uzbek tourism agents will sign more than 1,000 contracts with local suppliers of services and goods.
The Fair "Silk Way Tourism-2011" is arranged by Uzbekturizm, TNT Expo, an exhibition company, and Great Silk Way, an advertising agency.
The Fair is included in the list of most important international undertakings in the sphere of tourism carried out under the aegis of the UN World Tourism Organization.
The 2011 Fair presents more than 90 stands of tourism enterprises from 36 countries worldwide. Of them, more than 65 stands are the stands of tourism enterprises from Egypt, Israel, India, Indonesia, Spain, Italy, Kazakhstan, China, Malaysia, the United Arab Emirates, Russia, Syria, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Turkey, France, the Czech Republic, Switzerland, etc.
Attending the Tashkent tourism forum are around 500 foreign tourism companies and around 100 foreign journalists from 31 countries.
Uzbekturizm was founded in 1992. The company provides development of common state policy in the sphere of tourism; coordinates the activities of local tourism organizations; stimulates development of all kinds of tourism; trains personnel; and contributes to the attraction of investments in the branch's logistic base and infrastructure.
Currently, there are 748 enterprises, including 241 hotels and 507 tour operators operational in the non-state sector of Uzbekistan's tourism services.