About Uzbekistan

Uzbekistan expands opportunities in the tourism sector with Belgium
14 July 2023
Uzbekistan expands opportunities in the tourism sector with Belgium

Uzbek Embassy in Brussels organized a meeting with the director of the Association of Flemish Travel Agencies VVR Koen Van Den Bosch in Belgium.

The Association of Flemish Travel Agencies (VVR - Vereniging Vlaamse Reisbureaus) is a non-profit association of tourism professionals in the Flanders region. Represents the Belgian tourism services sector globally. It is a member of the Federation of travel agents association.

During the meeting, the head of the Belgian travel association noted the positive trend in promoting Uzbekistan as a popular tourist destination among Europeans.

According to him, the tourism market of Uzbekistan has made great progress in recent years. The country has become a recognizable and popular destination among all age segments willing to travel to Uzbekistan for tourism purposes. In this regard, the contingent of travelers interested in visiting Uzbekistan includes both young people and the elderly.

Additionally, it is highlighted that, according to the responses of tourists, the large-scale work done in recent years in historical cities in Uzbekistan is impressive and makes an indelible impression. The improvement of infrastructure in the city of Samarkand is especially noticeable, making it more attractive for those traveling to Uzbekistan. According to many tourists, the image of Samarkand city has changed dramatically and now meets world standards for receiving all types of tourists, starting from individual travelers to businessmen.

Koen Van Den Bosch expressed his readiness to support the Belgian tour operators - members of the Association of Flemish Travel Agencies in terms of further promoting Uzbekistan as an attractive tourist destination in the Central Asian region.

VVR regularly holds congresses with the participation of national tour operators, within which promising directions are discussed in terms of planned tours. According to the head of VVR, the most interesting events for Belgian tour operators may be the Tashkent International Tourism Exhibition, as well as cultural, educational and gastronomic festivals in Uzbekistan.

As a result of the meeting, the diplomatic mission reached an agreement to maintain regular contacts and meetings with the Association of Flemish Travel Agencies.

Holding negotiations with such kinds of European organizations will indeed boost the flow of European tourists to Uzbekistan, taking into account that all EU member states now can travel to Uzbekistan on a visa-free basis. 

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Did you know?

Uzbekistan is one of only two countries in the world to be ‘double landlocked’ (landlocked and totally surrounded by other landlocked countries). Liechtenstein is double landlocked by 2 countries whilst Uzbekistan is surrounded by 5!

Did you know that Uzbekistan lies in the very heart of Eurasia, the coordinates for Uzbekistan are 41.0000° N, 69.0000°

Uzbekistan is home to the Muruntan gold mine, one of the largest open pit gold mines in the world! The country has 4th largest reserves of gold in the world after South Africa, USA and Russia

Uzbekistan is the world capital of melons. They have in excess of 150 different varieties, which form a staple part of the local diet, served fresh in the summer and eaten dried through the winter.

It is Uzbek tradition that the most respected guest be seated farthest from the house’s entrance.

Tashkent’s metro features chandeliers, marble pillars and ceilings, granite, and engraved metal. It has been called one of the most beautiful train stations in the world.

The Uzbek master chef is able to cook in just one caldron enough plov to serve a thousand men.

When you are a host to someone, it is your duty to fill their cups with for the whole time they are with you.  What you must not do, however, is to fill their cup more than half-full.  If you do that as a mistake, say it is a mistake immediately.  Doing it means you want them to leave.  Wow!  Amazing, right?

To Uzbeks, respect means a whole lot.  For this reason they love it if, even as foreigners, you endeavour to add the respectful suffix opa after a woman's name; and aka after a man's.  Example: Linda-opa and David-aka.  You could also use hon and jon respectively.

Having been an historic crossroads for centuries as part of various ancient empires, Uzbekistan’s food is very eclectic. It has its roots in Iranian, Arab, Indian, Russian and Chinese cuisine.

Though identified with the Persia, the Zoroastrism probably originated in Bactria or Sogdiana. Many distinguished scholars share an opinion that Zoroastrianism had originated in the ancient Khorezm. Indeed, today in the world there were found 63 Zoroastrian monuments, including those in Iran, India, Afghanistan and Pakistan. Thirty-eight of them are in Uzbekistan, whereas 17 of these monuments are located in Khorezm.

One of Islam's most sacred relics - the world's oldest Koran that was compiled in Medina by Othman, the third caliph or Muslim leader, is kept in Tashkent. It was completed in the year 651, only 19 years after Muhammad's death. 

Tashkent is the only megapolis in the world where public transport is totally comprised of Mercedes buses. And due to low urban air polution it is one of the few cities where one can still see the stars in the sky.

You would be surprised to know that modern TV was born in Tashkent. No joke! The picture of moving objects was transmitted by radio first time in the world in Tashkent on 26 of July 1928 by inventors B.P. Grabovsky and I.F. Belansky.

Uzbekistan is the only country in the world all of whose neighbours have their names ending in STAN. This is also the only country in Central Asia that borders all of the countries of this region

Uzbeks are the third populous Turkik ethnicity in the world after Turks and Azeris (leaving both in Azerbaijan and Iran)

Did you know that there was silk money in Khiva? Super interesting right? Of course, but the best part of having silk money was that it could be sewn into your clothing.

Famous Islamic physician Ibn Sina (Avicenna in the Latin world) who was born near Bukhara was the one of the first people to advocate using women’s hair as suture material – about 1400 years ago.

Uzbekistan has a long and bloody history. The most notorious leader of Uzbekistan was Timur (or Tamerlane) who claimed descent from Genghis Khan. His military campaigns have been credited for wiping out some 5% of the world’s population at the time.

If you have thought that some of the Islamic architecture in Uzbekistan resembles that from Northern India, then that is because Timur’s great great great Grandson, Babur Beg, was the founder of the Moghul Empire that ruled much of India for almost four centuries! Babur’s great great Grandson was Shah Jahan, who built the Taj Mahal.

Uzbekistan was once a rum producig country. There is still a real arboretum in Denau (city near Termez on the border with Afghanistan), grown from a selection station that studied the prospects of plant growing in the unusual for the Soviet Union subtropical climate of Surkhandarya region: only here in the whole of the USSR sugar cane was grown and even rum was produced!

Uzbekistan has been ranked one of the safest countries in the world, according to a new global poll. The annual Gallup Global Law and Order asked if people felt safe walking at night and whether they had been victims of crime. The survey placed Uzbekistan 5th out of 135 countries, while the UK was 21st and the US 35th. Top five safest countries:

  • Singapore
  • Norway
  • Iceland
  • Finland
  • Uzbekistan
Exchange rates
100 RUR
13115.82 UZS
100 USD
1278008.18 UZS
100 EUR
1388198.12 UZS
100 GBP
1643007.04 UZS
Weather in cities
Tashkent
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Samarkand
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