From ninety-ninth session of UNWTO in Samarkand to 20th Tashkent International Tourism Fair–Uzbekistan is ready to host two back to back mega events
By Agha Iqrar Haroon
Samarkand: The entire Uzbekistan is presenting festivity as this Central Asian country is hosting two back to back mega events of tourism industry. The ninety-ninth session of UNWTO will start in Samarkand on October 1 and will end on October 4 while 20th Tashkent International Tourism Fair (TITF) will be inaugurated on October 6 while these two back to back tourism events are mingled with traditional festivity of Eid-e-Qurban.
Eid-e-Qurban is also known as Eid al-Adha (“Festival of the sacrifice”). In Central Asia this festival is also called as Bakr Eid or Eid e Qurban. This is the second of two religious holidays celebrated by Muslims each year. It honors the willingness of Abraham (Ibrahim) to sacrifice his promised son. Ishmael (Ismail) as an act of submission to God’s (Allah) command, before God then intervened to provide Abraham with a lamb to sacrifice instead. In the lunar-based Islamic calendar, this festival falls on the 10th day of Dhu al-Hijjah and lasts for four days. This year, this event will be celebrated during October 4 to October 6 in Central Asia.
The 99th Session being held in Samarkand have attracted not only UNWTO states delegations rather a number of travel writers, international journalists and professional have already gathered in Samarkand to attend or cover this event. During the upcoming session, member-states will debate extensive agenda of UNWTO, related both to technical issues of the organization, and the prospects of development of tourism in the world. The session will also assist the tourism industry professionals to exchange views, hold discussions and make contacts. From this perspective, the event seems to be very important for Uzbekistan as well as international tourism industry.
The decision to hold 99 session of the UNWTO in Samarkand was taken in the framework of the 98th session, held in the Spanish city of Santiago de Compostela in June this year.
While the theme title of 2014 TITF is “Tourism on the Silk Road”, representing true headship of annual Tashkent tourism fair in promoting tourism in Central Asia.
