President Shavkat Mirziyoyev at the 25th session of the General Assembly of the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), which opened on Monday in Samarkand, put forward a number of initiatives aimed at deepening cooperation between countries in the field of tourism.

“The most pressing problem of global tourism is ensuring safe tourism. It should be noted that the conflicts and unstable situation around the world have an even more negative impact on the development of the sector than the pandemic,” he noted.

“Unfortunately, as a result of these processes, the tourism potential and the number of tourists in popular and traditional destinations has sharply declined, existing threats and challenges to safe tourism are increasing, their negative impact is also widely spreading to neighboring regions, world cultural heritage sites and ancient architectural monuments are being destroyed, and some even disappear from the face of the Earth,” said Shavkat Mirziyoyev.

“To prevent these, we must unite our forces, actions and aspirations, and be more united. Taking into account today’s difficult situation, in order to strengthen a strong legal framework for the field of international tourism, I propose to develop a Global Code of Safe Tourism within the framework of the United Nations,” he said.

With the climate change, the adoption of the International Program of Action for the Development of Green Tourism is more important than ever, ha added.

He also proposed to establish the UNWTO category: Best City For Green Tourism.

“With the assistance of the organization, we intend to create a Global Green Tourism Startup Laboratory together with the recently launched Central Asian University of Environmental Studies and Climate Change and the Silk Road International University in Samarkand. We are ready to allocate grant funds to find the best innovative solutions. We invite all member states and international organizations to join this project,” said Shavkat Mirziyoyev.

To create favorable conditions for travelers with disabilities and develop the infrastructure of inclusive tourism, Uzbekistan is taking the initiative to declare 2025 as the World Year of Inclusive Tourism within the UNWTO, the president noted.

Another proposal was the creation of a Council of Historic Cities for Tourism under the World Tourism Organization.

“This platform will help increase the inflow of tourists to cultural heritage sites, exchange the best practices in the preservation of historical monuments, and formulate the necessary recommendations and solutions. We are ready to hold the first meeting of the council in the ancient city of Bukhara,” suggested Shavkat Mirziyoyev.

On Monday, the “so far unique” International Academy of Tourism of the World Tourism Organization was opened in Samarkand, which will train and improve the skills of specialists in the field.

The President expressed confidence that the academy will become “a global educational hub and will make a worthy contribution to the further development of the global tourism industry.”

Starting from the next academic year, Uzbekistan will provide special grants for gifted specialists and encourages representatives of other states to take an active part in this program.

Shavkat Mirziyoyev further proposed holding a World Youth Tourism Summit in Tashkent together with UNWTO.

“Of course, this forum will become an important and useful platform for young people to generate new ideas and projects for the development of tourism,” he noted.

He also proposed to establish a special international UNWTO award for contribution to promoting the Silk Road brand. The implementation of this initiative could be carried out by the Thematic Office “Tourism on the Silk Road”, which was opened on the same day together with the organization.

In conclusion, the president proposed the establishment of a Global Media Campus, which would bring together leading media outlets, journalists and the best travel bloggers.

UNWTO “must promote the strength and great potential of these creative and dedicated people by creating additional platforms,” he said.

Media forums may be held every two years as part of the next sessions of the UNWTO General Assembly. “We are ready to host the first media campus in our country,” suggested Shavkat Mirziyoyev.

On the sidelines of the session, Shavkat Mirziyoyev hosted the Secretary General of the World Tourism Organization Zurab Pololikashvili. The parties reviewed the ways to expand the cooperation with this specialized UN institution for boosting Uzbekistan’s tourism potential.