Antonio Alonso Macros
Professor San Pablo CEU University
On 2 December, the 24th General Assembly of the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) held in Madrid brought excellent news for Central Asia and for Uzbekistan in particular: Samarkand will be the focus of international attention in 2023.
The UNWTO General Assembly brought together diplomatic representatives from 135 countries, as well as 84 tourism ministers and a host of tourism entrepreneurs. With this decision, UNWTO members endorsed the plan for the future of tourism, a future made uncertain by the still present covid-19 pandemic. It is hoped, however, that by then conditions for travellers and the hospitality industry will be more stable and travel can be enjoyed with some degree of normality.
Among the decisions taken is the decision to hold the XXV General Assembly of the organisation in Samarkand, which directly implies that it will be the centre of international attention during that year, something for which the city has been preparing for years. In addition to the well-known tourist attractions, such as Registan Square and the tomb of Amir Timur, a new international airport is being prepared and the streets are being upgraded to facilitate the transit of more vehicles. In addition, the country’s capital, Tashkent, is connected to Samarkand by a high-speed train of Spanish technology (Talgo): the Afrosiyob. In addition to the city’s existing infrastructure, construction has begun on a vast tourist complex of some 212 hectares on the banks of the Remo Canal, which will house the Samarkand Tourist Centre with a new Renaissance Congress hall, hotels, restaurants, shopping centres, an amphitheatre and the Eternal City complex.
Aziz Abdukhakimov, Deputy Prime Minister of Uzbekistan and Minister of Tourism and Sports, said: “For the first time in history, the General Assembly of the United Nations World Tourism Organisation will be held in Uzbekistan. All this is the result of the policy pursued by the President of our country, the development of the tourism sector and efforts to increase the country’s prestige on the world stage.
This is undoubtedly excellent news for Uzbekistan, which will see one of its most emblematic cities (along with Tashkent, Bukhara and Khiva) become even better known worldwide. But it is also good news for the whole of Central Asia, as tourists will want to extend their stay by visiting other parts of the country full of art and history, or even visit the surrounding countries, which also have a great heritage worth visiting and contemplating. Incidentally, near Samarkand there is a town called Madrid, now part of the city itself, and the oldest Madrid outside Spain. This is due to the visit of the diplomatic expedition led by Ruy González de Clavijo in 1405 to the court of the Great Tamerlane. In fact, the city of Samarkand dedicated a street in honour of this Spaniard next to the emperor’s burial complex.
This world “capital” of tourism will, of course, be a great challenge for the local and regional authorities, but also an excellent opportunity for its inhabitants, who will see an increase in the number of visits to this beautiful city.
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