The Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) has selected Shakhrisabz as its tourism capital for 2024. This was announced at the 4th ECO Ministerial Meeting on Tourism December 12-13, chaired by Uzbekistan’s Ministry of Tourism and Cultural Heritage.
The decision was made following the results of the fourth meeting of the ministers of tourism of the ECO states, which was held online on December 13, the press service of the ECO said.
The meeting was opened by Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Tourism and Cultural Heritage of Uzbekistan Aziz Abdukhakimov, who noted that tourism serves as one of the main catalysts for growth and the strongest bridge that unites the peoples of the region through the addition of cultural traditions and values.
In his turn, ECO Secretary General Ambassador Khusrav Noziri highlighted that tourism is one of the ECO’s key areas of interest, prioritized for development under the ECO Vision-2025.
The participants of the meeting adopted the Roadmap to promote accelerated recovery, safe and sustainable development of tourism after COVID-19 in the ECO region as a common framework for cooperation between member states, and also chose the cities of Shakhrisabz in Uzbekistan and Erzurum in Turkey as tourism capitals ECO for 2024 and 2025, respectively.
In addition, the Samarkand Declaration on cooperation in the field of tourism was adopted and promulgated.
The next 5th ECO Tourism Ministerial Meeting will be held in Ardabil, Iran, in 2023.
