Background briefing with the participation of managers and operators, travel agencies and companies, members of the Association of Czech travel agencies and the Czech-Uzbek Chamber of Commerce (CCI) was held in Prague.

The goal of this is to establish the long term cooperation with tour operators and travel agents of the Czech Republic, and to help to increase the tourist in flow to the Republic of Uzbekistan.

Opening the briefing, the leaders of the Association of Czech travel agencies W. Silec and Czech-Uzbek Chamber of Commerce M Harushtyak noted the importance of such activities to expand contacts with the Uzbek partners and strengthening economic cooperation between the Czech Republic and Uzbekistan.

In particular, M. Harushtyak stressed that "the development of cooperation with Uzbekistan is a priority of foreign policy and foreign economic relations of the Czech Republic. In this context, tourism is one of the most promising areas. This is proved by a significant number of those present at the briefing of travel agencies, some of which have already started working on the Uzbek market.

B. Silec, in his turn, pointed out that "the need for regular holding of such briefings to attract more tourism companies and operators".

According to him, "at the present time strengthening and developing of cooperation between Uzbekistan and the Czech Republic helps to increase the interest not only to the republic but to the region of Central Asia as a whole. The rich historical and cultural potential of the Republic of Uzbekistan makes it a regional leader in the field of tourism. The neighboring countries of Central Asia should support this, as the increase of tourists’ in flow in Uzbekistan will bring them the dividends.

Moreover, there the recent increase of interest of the Uzbek tourists to visit the famous spa clinics, as well as business tourism in the Czech Republic. In this regard, the Czech travel agencies believe that Uzbekistan and the Czech Republic have the potential to attract tourists in both directions.

Taking in to consideration all circumstances, the Czech company welcomed the opening of direct flights between Prague and Tashkent, which allowed companies such as “Evroagentur ", " Yedu "CZ" and "Marco Polo", to include tours in Uzbekistan in the catalogs of tour companies for 2010 -2011. A number of other Czech travel agencies with the help of partners in Uzbekistan actively attract tourists from Uzbekistan in the resort areas of Bohemia and assist in the development of business tourism.

During the briefing, Czech tour operators got familiar with the possibilities of tourism potential and tourism development in Uzbekistan, including the measures taken by management and the Government of the Republic, to improve the tourism infrastructure, revival of the unique historical monuments and cultural traditions, as well as on preparations for the 16-th Tashkent International Tourist Fair "Tourism along the Silk Road", which will take place on October 7-8, 2010 and the next meeting of representatives of national tourism administrations of participating countries of the United Nations (UNWTO) project, which will take place  in Samarkand on October 8-9, 2010.

There was the discussion focused on opportunities for enhanced cooperation. Members of the Association of Travel Agents Czech Republic and Czech-Uzbek Chamber of Commerce expressed their willingness to organize a familiarization visit of the leading tour operators to establish direct contacts and identify tourism opportunities in the field. Private companies have expressed their interest to participate in international exhibition in Tashkent.

Referring to certain aspects of the current level of cooperation in tourism, the Chairman of the Association, of V. Silec, announced the intention to organize "Days of tourism and Uzbek cuisine in the Czech Republic" to promote the tourist image of Uzbekistan in the first half of 2011. In this regard, according to him, it seems appropriate to include in the delegation not only cookers but also representatives of NAC of Uzbekistan Airways, Uzbekistan travel agencies and specialists of the musical art.

The briefing also discussed the vital issues of this sphere, in particular, the simplification of visa regime for the category of tourists and tourist groups. According to the opinion of the Czech firms, these measures will contribute to the strengthening of tourist relations and increase the inflow of tourists in Uzbekistan.