Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- Today, on 16 May, an international conference "Destination Forum" was held, organized by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism jointly with the German Tourism Association (Deutscher Reiseverband e.V. -DRV) with the participation of representatives of the tourism industry of Germany and Uzbekistan.

The event was attended by Minister of Culture and Tourism Ozodbek Nazarbekov, President of the German Tourism Association Norbert Fiebig, as well as heads of major travel companies of the two countries.

As part of the Destination Forum, with the participation of local tour operators, the Destination Forum tourism forum and bilateral meetings in the B2B format will be held.

For the largest travel agencies and tour operators in Germany, presentations were made aimed at presenting Uzbekistan as a priority tourist destination for Europeans.

“Cooperation between Uzbekistan and Germany in the field of tourism is one of the important areas for the development of economic relations between the two countries. Therefore, Uzbekistan regularly participates in the world’s largest tourism fair "ITB-Berlin", which is held in Germany, organizes press tours and trips to our country for representatives of leading German media and tour operators. It has also become a good tradition to hold “Days of Tourism and Culture of Uzbekistan” in Germany, Minister of Culture and Tourism Ozodbek Nazarbekov said.

During the event, together with representatives of the German Tourism Association, issues of expanding tourism programs, developing new tourist routes of interest to tourists from Germany, and intensifying cooperation with German tour operators, as well as concluding agreements between travel companies and expanding cooperation networks were discussed in detail.

“Being in Uzbekistan, I was very impressed with the tourism potential of your country. I was especially struck by the fact that historical monuments have retained their appearance even after several centuries. It was a pleasure to watch the processes of making quality paper by hand in Samarkand, as well as the production of folk handicrafts. I believe that German tourists will return from here with unforgettable impressions. For this reason, I can say with confidence that we, in cooperation with Uzbek entrepreneurs, are entering a new stage in the exchange of tourists between the two countries. It is also important that the Germans can stay in Uzbekistan in a visa-free regime for up to 60 days,” said Norbert Fiebig, president of the German Tourism Association.

For information, in the period from 11 to 16 May, a trip of 70 tour operators from Germany to Uzbekistan is organized in order to promote the tourism opportunities of Uzbekistan in Western Europe with the help of large travel companies and increase the number of tourists from this continent.

DRV is Germany’s leading tourism association covering all tourism organizations, which account for about 90 percent of the total income of the country’s tourism market, in particular, it brings together leading tour operators, travel agencies, airlines, railways, hotels and other tourism business corporations.

During the trip, information tours are organized for German tour operators on sights, cultural heritage sites, tourist villages, family guest houses, as well as newly created tourist sites in the Republic of Karakalpakstan, Khorezm, Bukhara, Samarkand, Kashkadarya, Jizzakh, Fergana regions, as well as the city of Tashkent.