{"id":6541,"date":"2023-10-30T01:40:17","date_gmt":"2023-10-30T01:40:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/travelcommunication.net\/?p=32608"},"modified":"2023-10-30T01:40:17","modified_gmt":"2023-10-30T01:40:17","slug":"uzbekistan-wows-delegates-at-25th-unwto-general-assembly","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.travelindex.org\/media\/global-travel-news\/uzbekistan-wows-delegates-at-25th-unwto-general-assembly\/","title":{"rendered":"Uzbekistan Wows Delegates at 25th UNWTO General Assembly"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"Uzbekistan<\/a>Samarkand, Uzbekistan, October 30, 2023 \/ TRAVELINDEX \/ International delegates and media attending the 25th UNWTO General Assembly have expressed their delight of the historical city of Samarkand in Uzbekistan.<\/p>\n

Many who spoke about their impressions of the capital city, which is a cultural citadel, have been surprised with the developments and commitments of the government to position Uzbekistan as a new tourism draw.<\/p>\n

Hosting UNWTO\u2019s highest organisational structure for the first time, Uzbekistan staged one of the culturally enriching side events to celebrate the historical city.<\/p>\n

Speaking to VoyagesAfriq on their impressions of the General Assembly, Rodney Sikumba, Minister of Tourism of Zambia, was excited. From his arrival at night to the glowing sun in the morning that unraveled the country\u2019s beauty.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we arrived in Uzbekistan, I was not sure where we were. From the airport to the train and finally to Samarkand, we saw amazing places,\u201d Sikumba said.<\/p>\n

Speaking at the General Assembly, the Zambian minister noted that the number of participants at this year\u2019s assembly was overwhelming.<\/p>\n

But what resonated with him were the opening ceremony speeches by Shavkat Mirziyoyev, president of Uzbekistan and Zurab Pololikashvili, UNWTO secretary general.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Uzbekistan president\u2019s speech reflected the views of Hakainde Hichilema, my president, on a number of issues particularly PPP, safe cities, open skies and connectivity, which is a big issue in Africa. We are looking at creating airstrips across our provinces in Zambia to make it easier for people to travel\u201d.<\/p>\n

He was also impressed with the plenary sessions where he saw figures from his colleagues who are pushing boundaries for tourism to become economic driver of their respective countries.<\/p>\n

\u201cTourism gives, it never takes away unlike other sectors,\u201d Sikumba concluded.<\/p>\n

On his part, Abdulla Mausoom, Minister of Tourism, Republic of Maldives, expressed that the General Assembly was super good.<\/p>\n

On his impression about the host country, he noted, \u201cFrom our arrival to the hosting, the Uzbekistan team has been good. The venue is new and marvelous\u201d. He was also impressed with the exciting opening ceremony and great speeches by the Uzbekistan president and the secretary general of the UNWTO. \u201cThe Investment Forum was very insightful and it challenged all of us here.<\/p>\n

\u201cConsidering that the General Assembly is well organized, it is a landmark success.
\nAlso pulsatile the UNWTO secretary general has been in charge for some years now and he has been leading the global body in some of the most difficult times during the pandemic.<\/p>\n

Now we have moved to the next level of tourism and the General Assembly will draw the roadmap to this next level of global tourism,\u201d Mausoom assured.<\/p>\n

Folorunsho Coker, Director-General, Nigerian Tourism Development Authority (NTDA), was exceptionally excited being at the General Assembly.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat I have witnessed so far here in Samarkand identifies that tourism is a good state of being and if your country is in a good state, the reward you will get is tourism.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople will bring their resources to come to discover what you have to offer from whatever form of tourism you have,\u201d Coker said.<\/p>\n

He is concerned about improved air connectivity in Africa.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need greater connectivity, in the world today, 95 percent of global tourism is enjoyed by 5 percent of countries in the tourism ecosystem.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is a need to explore deeper, open minds like the Saudis are doing with their sponsorships,\u201d he said.
\nOn his impressions about the host country, the Nigerian tourism boss said, \u201cWe are standing on brand new infrastructure in Samarkand and this investment was done in two years.<\/p>\n

\u201cFrom what I can see, this is going to be the center of MICE for the \u2018STAN\u2019 countries: Pakistan, Afghanistan, Turkmenistan and others\u201d.<\/p>\n

He thinks there is a lesson to learn from Uzbekistan.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis country has oil and it is investing in tourism. Nigeria has oil too, and should invest in tourism as well,\u201d he strongly called for more investments in the tourism sector of his country.<\/p>\n

First published on VoyagesAfriq by Kojo Bentum Williams<\/em><\/p>\n

First published at TravelCommunication.net<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Samarkand, Uzbekistan, October 30, 2023 \/ TRAVELINDEX \/ International delegates and media attending the 25th UNWTO General Assembly have expressed their delight of the historical city of Samarkand in Uzbekistan. Many who spoke about their impressions of the capital city, which is a cultural citadel, have been surprised with the developments and commitments of the …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":6543,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[1924,43,1925],"class_list":["post-6541","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-global-travel-news","tag-corporate","tag-global-travel-news","tag-latest-travel-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.travelindex.org\/media\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6541","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.travelindex.org\/media\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.travelindex.org\/media\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.travelindex.org\/media\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.travelindex.org\/media\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6541"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.travelindex.org\/media\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6541\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.travelindex.org\/media\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6543"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.travelindex.org\/media\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6541"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.travelindex.org\/media\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6541"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.travelindex.org\/media\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6541"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}