Underlining TAFI’s core objective and its commitment towards its members, its president Praveen Chugh said that the association strives to constantly uncover destinations that can be easily promoted by its members — destinations that are value for money, where people are friendly and are eager to welcome Indian tourists.

One such destination that it recently explored was Uzbekistan and Chugh had this to say, "When we spoke to representatives of Uzbekistan Airways and UzbekTourism we got the feeling that this was definitely a country that had such potential." The delegation visited Taskhent, Bukhara and Samarkand to experience the local sights and culture and meet local tour operators.

TAFI’s exploration culminated with a formal meeting where a range of issues were discussed, spanning opportunities and challenges to help increase tourist traffic between India and Uzbekistan. The meeting was also attended by the Indian ambassador to Uzbekistan, representatives of major tour operators and local media.

Zahid L Khakimov, chairman of National Company UzbekTourism, which co-ordinates all tourism and related activities in Uzbekistan, highlighted the tourism potential that Uzbekistan had to offer and shared information regarding tourism-related initiatives that it has undertaken along with various countries. With regard to India, he said, "The friendship between Uzbekistan and India has a long history. Bilateral relations have been growing dynamically following a delegation in 2005, with various agreements on tourism being signed." He stressed on the importance of sustained dialogue for further promotion of bilateral ties and tourism. Recognising the importance of movies in creating awareness, he also suggested making a Bollywood movie in Uzbekistan.

Khakimov expressed regret that the current volume of tourist traffic from India was dismally low, totalling just a couple of thousand, compared to the millions of outbound Indians. Accordingly, he invited the TAFI delegation to share their experiences and offer suggestions to correct this situation. "We consider the TAFI visit to be an event of great significance. This trip has been planned so that TAFI’s opinions and credible recommendations can be obtained," he said.

Skand R Tayal, Indian ambassador to Uzbekistan, opined that it was mostly the lack of information about Uzbekistan and related promotion in India that accounted for the low numbers. Concurring with this view, Chugh stated that they were extremely impressed with the scenic beauty, monuments, art and culture of Uzbekistan as well as the hospitality of the locals. He added that TAFI was also happy to note the ’hunger’ for promoting tourism, even among individual local operators who unequivocally displayed enthusiasm in partnering with Indian tour operators and travel agents for their local logistics and travel requirements.

Expressing that Uzbekistan was ideally positioned to take advantage of the travel boom in India, Chugh assured the congregation that TAFI would extend its complete co-operation to promote Uzbekistan within India.

The process would be initiated by circulating information about the destination and its international tourism fair among all TAFI members, and extending invitations to Uzbekistan tour operators to attend the various tourism fairs in India. Working closely with National Company UzbekTourism and with Uzbekistan tour operators is the crucial next step.

TAFI also presented a comprehensive list of suggestions aimed at addressing the hurdles and stimulating tourist traffic to Uzbekistan (see box). Chugh affirms, "Wherever TAFI has gone, we have witnessed growth in tourism to the destination. Kota Kinabalu in Malaysia is one such example." With northern India being the initial target segment, given the current flight connectivity, TAFI is now exploring the feasibility of conducting its northern region conference and workshop in Uzbekistan. Mirroring the delegation’s collective sentiment, Pradeep Lulla, TAFI’s VP, says, "Uzbekistan is an ideal virgin destination with unique offerings and only needs to be marketed well."