Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- A presentation of the tourism potential of Uzbekistan took place at the Consulate General of Uzbekistan in Athens.

The event was attended by the leaders of major Greek travel companies Manessis Travel, La Greca, Argo Travel, Heraklio Travel, XT Travel, as well as representatives of official, public, academic, business and media in Greece.

The participants were familiarized with the modern development of the tourism sector of Uzbekistan and new opportunities opening up in connection with the adoption of a number of regulatory documents in the country in this area. 

The information presented interested the Greek participants. They expressed positive assessments of the development of tourism in Uzbekistan. Separate attention at the presentation was drawn to the potential of the Samarkand region.

So, A.Sulunias, Vice-President of the Greek Hotel Chamber, stressed that the desire of the leadership of Uzbekistan to create all the conditions for the intensive development of tourism as a strategic industry indicates a profound thoughtfulness of the policies that will soon bear fruit. In his opinion, our country has a huge untapped potential in this area.

Deputy Director of Manessis Travel, one of the leading tour companies in Greece, A. Karellas believes that Uzbekistan is gaining popularity from year to year as an attractive tourist destination, which is promoted to no small degree by the reform policy aimed at the comprehensive development of tourism infrastructure.

- Such historical cities as Samarkand, Bukhara, Khiva, which are the “pearls of the East”, are attracting more and more interest among tourists from the countries of the European Union, America, and Asia. The rich architectural and cultural heritage of Uzbekistan, as well as the hospitality of the Uzbek people attract travelers from all over the world to the country.

Argo Travel sales manager A.Samolis believes that the Uzbek direction is not sufficiently disclosed by many Greek tour companies.

- I am impressed with the huge number of amazing architectural monuments in Uzbekistan. The appearance of the ancient cities of the republic impresses with its exceptional, rare beauty and rich decoration. Your country is very beautiful, and I am sure it can take a leading position in the region in the field of tourism.

The CEO of one of the oldest tour companies of La Greca, D.Panaiotopoulos, and the Vice-President of Heraklio Travel, V. Riga, expressed their readiness to establish and develop cooperation with Uzbek partners. V. Riga expressed interest in developing cooperation in the field of MICE (business) tourism. She reported that her company is a leader in organizing corporate and business travel.