BAKU, Azerbaijan, June 5
By Ilkin Seyfaddini - Trend:
Uzbekistan is among the destinations that we place a particular importance on, with its high potential, President of Association of Turkish Travel Agencies (TURSAB), Firuz Bağlıkaya told Trend.
Turkey is one of the most important tourism destinations in the world with 51 million visitors and $34.5 billion in tourism revenue as of 2019. Association of Turkish Travel Agencies (TURSAB) has established by law in 1972 and is a long-established tourism organization in Turkey.
”TURSAB, which provides service with almost 12-thousand-member travel agencies, is among the leading professional organizations in the tourism sector worldwide. As an association, we contribute to Turkish tourism with 35 Regional Representative Councils from every region of Turkey and 17 Expert Committees,” said Bağlıkaya.
He also stated that TURSAB members operate in all areas of tourism: from incoming tourism to outgoing tourism, from health to gastronomy, from cultural tours to shopping tours, etc.
“TURSAB, which has been directing Turkish tourism for nearly half a century, is a very important player for all other industry shareholders, as well as representing the travel agencies, one of the most important stakeholders of tourism. TURSAB participates and supports events and organizations that will play an active role in development in all tourism segments. There are many events such as fairs, workshops, congresses, and festivals that our institution has participated in and supported,” told Bağlıkaya.
The president of TURSAB stressed that Turkey and Uzbekistan are two ally countries with common historical heritage.
“Turkey became the first country to recognize Uzbekistan’s independence on December 16, 1991. There are many Uzbek citizens living in Turkey, and relations between the two countries further strengthen with every passing day. The visa-free regime implemented as of 2019, supports the development in the field of tourism, allowing the people of the two countries to get to know each other more closely and to discover their historical and cultural accumulation on site,” he said.
Bağlıkaya added that TURSAB are always ready to cooperate to foster bilateral relations with Uzbekistan.
“To develop tourism activities between Turkey and Uzbekistan, we have signed the "Tourism Development Cooperation Agreement" between TURSAB and the State Committee of Uzbekistan for Tourism Development on April 10, 2018. After the signing of the cooperation agreement, we hosted many events and workshops including the promotion of Uzbekistan, and we will continue to do so. To revive interest from Turkey to Uzbekistan, we will also provide more content regarding Uzbekistan on our inhouse media platforms TURSAB TV and The Voice of Travel" magazine stressed Bağlıkaya.
According to him, when the coronavirus pandemic spread slows down, TURSAB plans to conduct mutual info events and press tours with the participation of our agencies. Association’s efforts to contribute to developing tourism between the two countries will also continue in the coming term.
“Uzbekistan is a country of tourism, with valuable cultural treasures. Considering the increasing interest in cultural tours in recent years, we can say that Uzbekistan has a very important potential in tourism industry” said the president of TURSAB.
As Bağlıkaya, said increasing the promotion and marketing activities will enable Uzbekistan to attract considerable attention in tourism.
“Tourism is a long-term process, and it is very important to be patient for the development of the industry, to follow the global and consumer trends, and to shape the promotion and marketing activities within this framework. Investment incentives are also among the factors that will facilitate the achievement of the targets in the field of tourism in the medium and long term,” said Firuz Bağlıkaya.
He stated that it is of primary importance to carry out promotional and marketing activities to strengthen and to enhance Uzbek tourism.
“To increase the demand for tourism in Uzbekistan, it will be highly fruitful to create a new strategy by analyzing current global trends in the tourism field. Culture tours, which have shown an upward trend especially in recent years, are expected to gain more importance following the Coronavirus outbreak. I also believe that it would be beneficial for Uzbekistan to take action in the field of cultural tourism. I also expect that Uzbekistan should turn to nearby markets and determine target markets in the first place, as it prepares to take new steps in tourism,” stated Firuz Bağlıkaya.
According to him, Uzbekistan can also carry out in the field of health tourism alongside cultural tourism in the upcoming period.
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