In an atmosphere of rapid cultural and strategic openness, Uzbekistan is betting on its cultural weight and its ancient Islamic stock, to become one of the most prominent new tourist destinations for visitors to the Arab and Islamic world. Seven sites listed in the list UNESCO For world heritage, legendary historical cities such as Samarkand, Bukhara and Khion, Uzbekistan is not satisfied with presenting its effects, but rather provides an integrated novel on the living Islamic memory.
In a special dialogue with Al -Jazeera Net, the head of the Uzbek Tourism Authority, Omid Shadiev, reveals the features of the new vision of Tashchend, which seeks to present its country as a multidimensional destination: cultural, environmental, religious, and therapeutic. From the resorts of “Tim Garden” mountains to the summer lakes and the shrines of Imam Al -Bukhari and Al -Biruni, as Uzbekistan does not present itself to the Islamic world only as a memory, but as a contemporary enlightenment space.
Al-Jazeera Net publishes this dialogue on the occasion of the International Tourism Forum “Uzbekistan-Qatar”, a few days ago in the Qatari capital DohaAnd, under the supervision of the Tourism Committee in Uzbekistan, and the support of the Uzbekistan embassy in Qatar.
What makes this country in the heart of Central Asia a renewed attraction? What does it offer to its visitors from Arabs and Muslims? What is the importance of the Islamic heritage in building this new tourist bridge? Answers in this dialogue.
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What are your steps to strengthen Uzbekistan as a tourist destination?
As you know, Pakistan is home to seven World Heritage sites, these sites were included in the UNESCO menu. The city of Kheya was included as the first city in this important list. Other important sites such as the cities of Samarkand, Bukhara, Shahsbs, and the Silk Road Corridor, which travels across 3 regions in Uzbekistan. However, we also have natural sites such as “Western Sun Shine”, which were included in World Heritage List. It is a mountainous area in which you can see the beautiful nature in it and is close to the historical region of Touran.
Of the names only, you can realize a lot of activities that you can do in Uzbekistan, such as natural tourism, environmental tourism, which include mountains and beautiful landscapes.
We have cultural sites such as Khaya, which are the most important major attractions in Uzbekistan. Because within the countries of the Islamic world, we have a great culture, as well as a number of heritage sites that were preserved from the 12th and 13th century. Unfortunately, in other regions of the Islamic world, these buildings have been rebuilt. But we were able to preserve our heritage for many years. So we are proud to say that we have a great Islamic heritage. This heritage is still preserved in an appropriate way, and this attracts tourists more than others.
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What do you encourage Arab and Muslims coming to Uzbekistan?
We try to present Uzbekistan in a different way, of course, cultural heritage is one of the important points, but at the same time, we have mountain tourism, and we have winter resorts such as Tim Garden and other regions. We have recently built new resorts, and we plan to build more that I think will be attractive to tourists from The Middle EastWe have beautiful lakes that can be used during the summer holidays. We are trying to provide all aspects of online existing offers to the international community.
We always try to speak to our friends from the Middle East, and as you know, Islam came to our region and the latest enlightenment and a great renaissance, and we want to re -present our region as the enlightenment region, we are proud to say that our country was home to the greatest Muslim scholars such as Ibn Sina, Al -Biruni, Al -Khwarizmi and other scholars who laid the foundations of algebra and current medicine.
We encourage our friends from the Islamic world to visit our sites, and we commend the important scholars who have made great contributions to the development of civilization Islam. Imam Al -Bukhari, for example, despite his great popularity, there is still those who did not visit the place where he was born, or the place where he was buried near Samarkand.