Belarus, Uzbekistan to develop cooperation in tourism

MINSK. KAZINFORM – Belarus and Uzbekistan willcontinue developing cooperation in tourism, Belarus' Deputy Sports and TourismMinister Mikhail Portnoi said as he met with acting Chairman of the StateTourism Committee of Uzbekistan Abdulaziz Akkulov, BelTA learned from the pressservice of the ministry.

The talks took place at the National Exhibition CenterBelExpo which is hosting the Made in Uzbekistan exhibition as part of the 1stForum of Regions of Belarus and Uzbekistan. The parties discussed further waysto strengthen ties in tourism.

Guests from Central Asia held a presentation of thetourism potential of their country at the National Academy of Sciences ofBelarus. They described in detail the activity of the State Committee ofUzbekistan in tourism development, presented the main tourist routes.Belarusian representatives showed big interest in the use of IT technologies intourism, for example a virtual guide which provides information about thecountry's landmarks in nine languages.

At the meeting with Belarusian counterparts Uzbekrepresentatives were interested in spa resort recuperation in Belarus, and thedevelopment of agro-ecotourism. The guests are expected to visit one of theBelarusian spa resorts and the museum of ancient crafts and technologiesDudutki.

Belarus and Uzbekistan have intensified contacts intourism following the visit of the Belarusian leader to Uzbekistan in September2018. Then, the appropriate ministries signed a program on cooperation intourism for 2019-2020. The country's tourism potential was on display at Madein Belarus in Tashkent. In April 2019, the Sports and Tourism Ministry hosted afamiliarization tour for representatives of the State Tourism Committee ofUzbekistan, travel agencies, mass media visiting spa resorts, farmsteads, theBelovezhskaya Pushcha National Park, BelAZ, and tourism sports of theBelarusian capital. The roundtable session highlighted progress made in theimplementation of the roadmap and agreed to develop the ministerial agreementon cooperation in tourism.

In July 2019, Samarkand hosted the meeting of the CISTourism Council and the first CIS tourism fair. Attending the events wasBelarus' Deputy Sports and Tourism Minister Mikhail Portnoi. The Belarusianstand was on display at the exhibition in Samarkand. An agreement oncooperation was signed between the National Union of Tourism Industry and theAssociation of Private Tourist Organizations of Uzbekistan. Appropriateagreements between the travel agencies of the two countries have already beenprepared, Kazinform refers to BelTA.