Management Company Silk Road Samarkand (SRS), which operates Central Asia's largest tourist complex, announced an impressive list of statistics from its banner year of 2023, and projects even greater success in 2024, making the transition from tourist magnet to world-class destination for Meetings, Incentives, Conferences, and Exhibitions (MICE).
During 2023, Silk Road Samarkand burnished its MICE credentials by hosting more than 24 major international, business and government events, which were attended by more than 30,000 people, including the heads of state of Uzbekistan, Italy, France, and Qatar.
Among the top MICE events hosted at SRS were the General Assembly of the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), Asian Triathlon Cup, EBRD Board of Governors Annual Meeting, Council of CIS Foreign Ministers meeting, New Italian Cinema Events (NICE film festival), XVI Verona Eurasian Economic Forum, XV Tashkent International Film Festival ("Pearl of the Silk Road"), International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO European and North Atlantic meeting), and FIDE World Rapid and Blitz Championships, along with many other company retreats and private sector engagements.
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From November, 5 to 8, the 7th International Congress of the World Society for the Study, Preservation and Popularization of the Cultural Legacy of Uzbekistan “The Cultural Legacy of Uzbekistan: the Foundation of a New Renaissance” was held in the territory of the Silk Road Samarkand Tourist Complex in Samarkand with the participation of a number of national and international co-organizers.
The International Congress was attended by leaders of more than 20 scientific organizations, including the head of TURKSOY Sultan Raev, General Director of IRCICA Mahmud Erol Kilic, General Director of the Library and Information Center of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Dr. Istvan Monok, founder and president of the French Timurid Association Frederic Bressand, director Institute of Oriental Manuscripts of the Russian Academy of Sciences Irina Popova, founder and chairman of the Institute of Central Asia and the Caucasus of the USA Frederick Starr, President of the International Turkic Academy Shahin Mustafayev and other experts.
2024 promises to expand even further, with landmark events in the fields of culture, politics, commerce, gastronomy and diplomacy planned to take place at SRS, including Conference of the Parties to the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS COP14), 2024 World Triathlon Cup, joint conference of the International Textile Manufacturers Federation (ITMF) and International Apparel Federation (IAF), annual meeting of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), and many others. These landmark events will be boosted by new partnerships with Hilton, which rebranded three hotels in SRS. Three more are slated to rebrand with Holiday Inn and Crowne Plaza.
Bakhtiyor Fazilov, the founder of SRS, said:
"Our goal is to achieve even greater recognition of Uzbekistan as one of the world's most important tourist destinations. Modern tourism consists of various components, with the level of service provided to visitors becoming one of the most important. That's why SRS was the first location in Samarkand to offer world-class MICE facilities and services. In 2024, SRS will continue surprising tourists and participants in high class events with our hospitality, making this year a breakthrough for the tourism sector of our country and one of its main centers - Samarkand."
SRS's growth lines up with Uzbekistan's overall trajectory, predicting that 10 million tourists should visit the country in 2024, thanks to more than $700 million allocated for the development of tourist and industrial infrastructure in the Samarkand region, including an agreement with the travel company of the Chinese province of Shaanxi to expand tourism on the ancient Great Silk Road.
