Tourism Committee of the Republic of Uzbekistan

Similar events have previously been held in Türkiye, Egypt, Vietnam, and Tanzania, while this year Uzbekistan will host the summit for the first time.

Participants will include executives and representatives of companies that directly sell tourism services and promote them in international markets, thereby playing a key role in shaping tourist flows. Particularly importantly, these companies have not previously operated in the Uzbek market, making their participation an opportunity for Uzbekistan to access entirely new international tourism markets.

The summit programme will feature an international conference, panel sessions, and two rounds of B2B networking meetings between Uzbek and international tour operators. Major tour operators, tourism companies, and industry experts from the United States, Canada, New Zealand, and leading European and Asian countries will travel to Tashkent.

The summit is of particular strategic importance as it will provide an opportunity to establish direct partnerships with companies from Canada, the United Kingdom, and Europe specializing in travel for affluent segments, including the Asian-origin Muslim diaspora. This opens additional opportunities for Uzbekistan to attract not only mass tourist flows but also high-spending travellers seeking premium and luxury experiences.

International tourism experts will speak at the event, including Murtaza Kalendar, CEO of the international tourism company TravelShop; John Bruno, President of the International Ecotourism Society; Anis Sehhili, an expert on the Middle East and North Africa tourism market; and Roberto Garibaldi, Professor at the University of Bergamo, Italy.

Participants will also take part in excursions and additional business meetings in Khorezm, Samarkand, and Bukhara regions. International partners will have the opportunity to experience first-hand Uzbekistan’s rapidly developing tourism segments, including mountain, ecotourism, gastronomic, and ethnographic tourism. Direct experience among industry professionals can subsequently contribute to a significant increase in tourist arrivals to Uzbekistan.

Notably, participants are travelling to the summit on their own initiative and at their own expense, demonstrating the international tourism industry’s strong interest in Uzbekistan and the concrete commercial opportunities it sees in cooperation with the country.