Azernews.Az

By Nigar Orujova

Azerbaijan has proposed to hold the next meeting of the Commission for Europe of the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) in its capital Baku in 2014.

Deputy Culture and Tourism Minister Nazim Samadov voiced the proposal at the seminar, "Tourism at World Heritage Sites: Challenges and Opportunities", in Izmir, Turkey, which was held as part of the 55th session of the UNWTO on March 26-27, the ministry said on Thursday.

Samadov made a speech at the workhop, briefing participants on the work done by the ministry to develop the Azerbaijani tourism opportunities and cultural heritage.

He stressed Azerbaijan's intention to put forward its membership in the UNWTO Executive Council during the August elections in Zambia and Zimbabwe.

During the visit, Samadov met with UNWTO Secretary General Taleb Rifai. The sides discussed further expansion of cooperation between Azerbaijan and the WTO, as well as implementation of several projects.

Rifai passed on to Samadov tourism legislation prepared by the UNWTO. Samadov expressed to Rifai his appreciation of the WTO assistance to Azerbaijan in the development of the bill.

Baku will host a meeting of the working group for the UNWTO project 'Silk Road', scheduled for April 22-23, and a workshop for the CIS countries and Georgia on tourism statistics on June 10-12.

We recall that Baku hosted a two-day international conference, "Taste of the Silk Road: Cooking, Culture and Tourism", dedicated to highlighting the tremendous potential of the Silk Road region for intangible cultural tourism in September 2012.

Azerbaijan is a member of the UNWTO Silk Road program, which includes a total of 28 countries, whose purpose is to ensure the development of tourism throughout the Silk Road route by making joint efforts.

The WTO is the United Nations agency responsible for the promotion of responsible, sustainable and universally accessible tourism with 155 countries, 6 Associate Members and over 400 Affiliate Members representing the private sector, educational institutions, tourism associations and local tourism authorities.