Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- Today, on 25 April, Tashkent hosted a bilateral open dialogue between tourism entrepreneurs from Uzbekistan and Montenegro - WORK SHOP MONTENEGRO 2023.

The event was organized on the initiative of the company of Uzbekistan "Prestige Travel" and the company of Montenegro "R-Tours Budva" in cooperation with the Ministry of Culture and Tourism. It was attended by First Deputy Minister of Culture and Tourism Ulugbek Azamov, heads of leading hotel brands and travel companies of the two countries.

“Today, the role of tourism in the economy of Uzbekistan is increasing. This is evidenced by the number of foreign tourists who visited our country last year - 5.2 million people, as well as the volume of exports of tourism services – US$1.6 billion.

This year, a sharp increase in the number of tourists arriving in Uzbekistan from Europe is expected. A special place in this is occupied by our bilateral relations in the field of tourism with the state of Montenegro.

We appreciate the growing number of Montenegrin citizens who want to get to know our historical places, rich cultural heritage and beautiful nature of our country, and we will be glad to see them in our country,” said Ulugbek Azamov, First Deputy Minister of Culture and Tourism, in an open dialogue.

This year, the number of foreign tourists is expected to increase to 7 million people visiting Uzbekistan. In order to present the tourism potential of Uzbekistan to the world and increase the number of tourists arriving from European countries, conditions are being created for the accelerated development of tourism in our country and the growth rate of the industry. To date, about 5,000 accommodation facilities operate in our country, and the number of tourist accommodation places in the country has reached more than 100,000.

The Ministry of Culture and Tourism, with the support of the activities of entrepreneurs in the field of tourism, is working to create opportunities for activities in new tourist destinations. This will provide conditions for improving the tourism culture of the population and their quality recreation.

Prestige Travel, which took the lead in organizing this event, was founded in 2018, and the company is still taking important initiatives to launch flights to new destinations for Uzbekistan.

In particular, in 2018, Prestige Travel launched direct flights from Tashkent to Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt for the first time. Also in May 2021, direct flights were launched to Hurghada, one of the largest tourist centers in Egypt, and this year a new route was launched to the Vietnamese island of Phu Quoc. In addition, in the summer of 2022, direct flights were launched to Nha Trang, one of the resort cities in Vietnam.

One of the most relevant news today is that from June 2023, Prestige Travel will open direct flights to Montenegro, and, importantly, citizens of Uzbekistan will no longer need a visa to travel to Montenegro.