Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- Uzbekistan implements consistent measures to develop tourism as one of the strategic sectors of the national economy, aimed at solving such major socio-economic problems as the creation of new jobs, the dynamic development of regions, the improvement of image and investment the attractiveness of the country.

Under these conditions, the training of professional personnel for the tourism industry is of particular importance.

It should be noted that the modern model of professional education of specialists for the tourism sector involves in its basis a multi-level system of continuous training, retraining and advanced training of personnel.

The Embassy of Uzbekistan in France is carrying out comprehensive work on the study and promotion of French experience in introducing new educational standards that meet the needs of the industry and significantly expand the scope of specialized disciplines and practical exercises. At the same time, key attention is paid to establishing cooperation and opening branches of French universities in Uzbekistan for targeted training of specialists in the tourism industry.

To this end, the diplomatic mission of our country held talks with representatives of one of the leading universities in France in this area - the Vatel Business School on Tourism and Hospitality Management, during which they discussed issues of cooperation and the opening of a branch of this higher school in Uzbekistan.

Vatel was not chosen by chance, because this university is one of the best institutions in France in the field of hotel and tourism business. The school trains managers in the field of international hospitality and tourism. Today it has about 60 branches in 35 countries.

According to A. Sebban, the president of Vatel, as a result of large-scale reforms being implemented in Uzbekistan, the number of tourists visiting the country is growing rapidly.

“Given this growth, the country needs qualified personnel who are able to work in a multicultural context and lead a multinational team of specialists in the field of hotel and restaurant business,” he said.

Following the talks held in the French city of Lion between Bukhara State University (BSU) and Vatel Business School, an Agreement was signed on opening a branch of a French educational institution based on BSU, which provides for the issuance of international bachelor and master degrees. According to the document, training will also be organized under the Marco Polo program, which provides 2-year students with a one-year course at any of the 59 Vatel schools throughout the world.

As is known, today in Bukhara region about 100 new hotels, cultural and recreational and other tourism infrastructure facilities are being built. In addition, work is underway to create a tourist zone "Kadimiy Bukhoro" and measures are being taken to improve the catering system and create favorable conditions for evening leisure of tourists. Due to these measures, it is planned to provide an increase in the volume of tourist services by 2.1 times, and the number of tourists - by 1.9 times in 2019-2021.

Moreover, in Bukhara there are no specialized higher educational institutions for training personnel in the field of tourism at the international level, so the opening of “Vatel” will make it possible to comprehensively address this pressing issue.

The Embassy of Uzbekistan in France also facilitates negotiations between the Samarkand International Tourism University "Silk Road" and the University of Sorbonne to develop a convention to improve the educational process, ensure the mobility of faculty and students, and improve the skills of teachers.