The 13th Tashkent International Tourism Exhibition titled "Tourism along the Silk Road" was held on 17-19 October at the exhibition hall of the Arts Academy of Uzbekistan.

The exhibition organized by the UzbekTourism National Company is being held for the 13th time, and as usual, apart from the commercial purposes, it also bears a general cognitive nature. Among the invited guests are not only the representatives of travel agencies, but also potential tourists who are also invited to participate in the conferences, attend presentations and most importantly – receive what is called "first hand" information on the tourism opportunities in the region.

Among the participants of the exhibition are tourism companies, travel agencies, ministries of tourism, foreign tourist representatives, restaurants, hotels, sanatoriums, and recreation centres, universities and learning centres, transport companies, trade offices, publications, regional travel offices, SPA-centres, insurance and airline companies.

All participants and guests of the fair were greeted by the Chairman of UzbekTourism National Company Z. Khakimov, who noted that "the most interesting thing for a human is cognition and learning. The learning of the new, the learning of the world. In this sense tourism is probably the best, the most reliable supporter. Those people who work in this industry provide us an enormous amount of experiences, and opportunities." He wished that the travel agencies fiend new routes, and Uzbekistan is visited by more people taking away only nice and happy impressions of this land.

During the opening ceremony, a representative of ISESCO Mr. Abbas Sadri spoke. He wished the participants of the exhibition the best results from the event, and all the citizens of Uzbekistan – happy trips around the world. In conclusion, officials cut the ribbon, and thus opened the international fair.

Also, during the opening ceremony diplomas of the "Nomination of the Year" were awarded to the best companies, according to the results of the tourism season, in the following nominations: "Best hotel of the year", "Best chain of hotels", "Best hotel manager", "Best tourism world news reporter", "Best travel agency in outward tourism", "Best travel agency in inward tourism".

This year, the representatives of more than 20 countries of the world (Spain, Greece, Czech Republic, Russia, Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan, Iran, Poland, Bulgaria, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Cyprus, Ukraine, Egypt, Turkey, UAE, Indonesia, India, Malaysia, and Saudi Arabia) are participating in the event. They will present more than 80 stands. The tourism ministries of Malaysia, Kyrgyzstan and Turkmenistan plan to make presentations on their countries’ tourism potential. Presentations of foreign companies accompanied by the performances of national folk ensembles have become a good tradition for the fair.

Each presentation is unique and unforgettable and contributes to the formation of general opinion about the richness and diversity of cultural traditions. The exhibition, which is to present brief, but at the same time comprehensive information on the prospects of developing tourism, is intended primarily for the professional audience. It provides an opportunity to the local travel agencies not only to sign contracts, but also to raise the level of their staff’s professionalism by learning from foreign colleagues and sharing experience.

Since 1995 Tashkent international tourism fair, recognized by the full-righted member of the World Tourism Organisation, has been of the largest tourism exhibitions in Central Asia. Professional tourism fair targets a wide audience in both local and foreign tourism business. Being one of the main events in the tourism industry of the country, the fair plays an important role in the creation and support of the tourism image and helps expand the business partnership and contributes greatly to the development of tourism sector of Uzbekistan.