Azernews.Az

By Abdul Kerimkhanov

Modern Tajikistan combines all the powerful aspects of its raw and untouched nature where the highest mountain peaks of Central Asia reach for the skies and some of the world’s largest glaciers slowly make their way downstream.

Imposing mountains, feeding most of the rivers of Central Asia, picturesque gorges, subtropical valleys, where cotton fields, vineyards and apricot orchids take their turns, deserted high mountain plateaus, comparing in severity of their winters with Siberia – this is all Tajikistan, an independent developing country.

The International Tourism Exhibition ITB Berlin 2019 was held in Berlin on March 6-10. Representatives from 180 countries, 15,000 travel companies and 800 representatives of local and foreign media attended the exhibition.

Tajikistan was represented at the exhibition by 21 travel agencies under the leadership of the Deputy Chairman of the Committee for the Development of Tourism at the Government of Tajikistan Shirin Amonzoda. The exhibition is held for the 57th time.

The Tajik delegation met with representatives of foreign travel companies and considered new opportunities for cooperation on the first day of the exhibition.

Hundreds of exhibitors, visiting the stand of Tajikistan, which was designed taking into account the priority areas of tourism and the “Years of rural development, tourism and folk crafts 2019-2021”, received the necessary information about the tourist opportunities of Tajikistan.

The head of the Tajik delegation, Shirin Amonzoda, and the Tajik Ambassador to Germany, Sohibnazar Gairatsho, participated in a meeting of ministers of tourism of the countries participating in the program of the World Tourism Organization “The Great Silk Road” under the leadership of the WTO Secretary General Zurab Pololikashvili on March 6.

During his speech, Amonzoda noted the efforts of Emomali Rahmon and the Tajik government, aimed at the development of tourism in Tajikistan.

He recalled the announcement of 2019-2021 over the years of development of the village, tourism and folk crafts - another initiative of the President of Tajikistan, which corresponds to the main directions of the World Tourism Organization.

Also on the margins of the exhibition was a meeting of the delegation of Tajikistan with a BBC news agency representative.

During the meeting, the parties discussed issues of disseminating information regarding the tourist potential of Tajikistan through air force resources.

A representative of the World Bank together with Tajik delegation discussed the possibilities of attracting investment in the country's tourism infrastructure.

The exhibition hosted the solemn announcement of the 100 best places for ecotourism.

As Ambassador Gairatsho noted, the inclusion of the Pamir mountains in this list for the fourth time indicates that Tajikistan is recognized as one of the best places for ecological tourism.

Participation and presentation of tourism opportunities of the republic at this kind of exhibition provides an opportunity for national travel companies to establish cooperation with foreign companies in order to attract more tourists to Tajikistan.

In recent years, there has been an increase in the interest of tourists from Europe to the unique nature of Tajikistan.

On the eve of ITB Berlin 2019 - one of the largest exhibitions in the world in the German media, a number of articles were published on the tourism potential of Tajikistan and the aspirations of the country's government to develop this important industry.

As many as 19,000 European citizens visited Tajikistan in 2018. It is expected that in the next years this number will increase by several times.

As the Leading Travel Trade Show, ITB Berlin is the foremost business platform for global touristic offers. In addition to very high exhibitor satisfaction (over 90 percent), the numbers offer more proof: This is where supply meets demand.

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Abdul Kerimkhanov is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @AbdulKerim94

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