INTERNATIONAL TOURISM FORUM OPENED IN AVAZA

On November 1, 2017 the International Exhibition "Tourism and Travel" and the first day of the same conference on the development of cooperation in this field were opened in the National Tourist Zone "Avaza". The events were organized by the State Committee for Tourism and the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Turkmenistan.

Delegates from more than twenty countries arrived to participate in the forum: Russia, China, the United States, Great Britain, Australia, Brazil, Germany, Czech Republic, Poland, Bulgaria, Hungary, Finland, Denmark, Serbia, Italy, Iran, India, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Ukraine.

All the key divisions of the State Committee for Tourism and about 60 private profile enterprises of our country, Avaza hotels, representatives of foreign travel companies, honorary elders, representatives of the local administration and mass media took part in the opening ceremony of the exhibition organized at the “Seyrana” Hotel.

More than twenty foreign companies have opened their stands at the exhibition - national travel agencies, organizations and enterprises operating in the sanatorium sector, hotel business and other related areas. The exhibition allows to get acquainted with the unique tourist opportunities of Turkmenistan, to receive important information about the trends in the travel industry and the organization of various types of recreation.

In the afternoon, the opening of the conference took place, within the framework of the plenary session the representatives of the Turkmen side made presentations on the strategy and priorities of the innovative development of the tourist complex developed by President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov. One of the topics was sports tourism and valuable experience in hosting guests and organizing major international competitions, acquired by the country during the Games of Ashgabat 2017.

Foreign participants of the forum touched upon a wide range of issues in their reports: from interaction within the framework of the World Tourism Organization to cooperation in the field of vocational education, organization of seminars and meetings. The exchange of views allowed to present various approaches to the development of this sector, as well as to consider the most revealing examples of Turkmenistan's partnership with foreign structures in this direction.

On November 2, the conference will continue its work on the following sections: "Historical and cultural heritage of Turkmenistan", "Education and economic innovations in tourism" and "Issues of development of ecological tourism".