The meeting that was held in video-conference format hosted by the Minister of Culture and Tourism of the Republic of Turkey, H.E. Mehmet Nuri Ersoy, moderated by the Secretary General of the Turkic Council, H.E. Baghdad Amreyev and attended by the Deputy Prime Minister, Chairman of the State Committee of the Republic of Uzbekistan for Tourism Development, H.E. Aziz Abdukhakimov; Chairman of the State Tourism Agency of the Republic of Azerbaijan, H.E. Fuad Naghiyev; Deputy Minister of Culture and Sports of the Republic of Kazakhstan, H.E. Urken Bissakayev; Deputy Minister of Culture, Information and Tourism of the Kyrgyz Republic, H.E. Maksat Damir; Deputy CEO of the Hungarian Tourism Agency, Mr László Könnyid.
Secretary General Baghdad Amreyev briefed the Parties on the outcomes of the Extraordinary Summit of the Presidents of the Turkic Council held on 10 April 2020 and the meetings of the Ministers of Transport, Health, Economy/Trade, Customs and Migration of the Turkic Council which were held via video-conferences following the Extraordinary Summit.
Secretary General expressed that the close collaboration and coordination in the field of tourism among the Turkic countries is of utmost importance in order to mitigate the negative effects of the pandemic on the national economic of the Member States.
Then Secretary General informed the Ministers about the programs and new projects initiated by the Secretariat in tourism sector.
Tourism Ministers exchanged information, experiences and applied procedures on the precautions taken by the Member States for the safe travel of the tourists; current state of tourism relations under the strictures posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as discussed the ways to strengthen the latest developments in tourism sector.
Parties agreed to coordinate their efforts in fight against COVID-19 in the tourism sector by sharing the measures (inspection, sanitation, certification, safety measures and etc.) applied by the Member States within the Turkic Council. To this end, Parties also discussed the opportunity of launching of new online training programs on the certain topics for fighting against pandemic.
Touching upon the importance of applying technology and digitalization in the tourism industry, such as creating a single map of tourist destinations of the Turkic countries, organization of the virtual tours, launching a tourism TV channel and using of VR technologies, the Parties agreed to explore new strategies and possible ways for further promotion of the “Turkic Council Modern Silk Road Joint Tour Project” through exhibitions, advertisement and to develop a new strategy for attracting tour operators to the project. Hungarian tour operators will also be included into the Modern Silk Road Joint Tour Project.
Ministers emphasized the necessity to take measures towards the liberalization of tourism in the Member States by creating a “Silk Road Visa” for the incoming tourists from the third countries.
They also proposed to diversify the tourism sector in the region by developing new tours for the route of “scientists” and “holy places” in the region, and promoting the rich heritage of the Turkic world by conducting common cultural and traditional festivals.
Ministries agreed to organize “Silk Road Tourism Capitals Initiative” in order to promote tourism in the region, in which one of the cities from the Member States will be designated as “Silk Road Tourism Capital” annually; as well as to hold a tourism forum in Turkestan with the participation of travel agencies and media representatives of the Member States in October, 2020.
The Parties agreed on the proposal of the Secretariat to establish “Coordination Committee on Tourism” to exchange information, coordinate their efforts, as well as to implement the agreed decisions and further expansion of cooperation during and after pandemic.
