The 8th UNWTO Silk Road Ministers’ Meeting was held during the ITB Berlin Travel Trade Show with the Greek city of Thessaloniki as one of its main points of focus.
The capital of Greece’s Macedonia will be the host destination of the 8th UNWTO International Meeting on Silk Road Tourism, which is scheduled to take place in October.
It is the largest meeting of the World Tourism Organisation and it is the first time that it is organized in a European country
With the theme “2025 Silk Road Tourism Agenda”; the Ministers and Heads of the National Tourism Administrations shared their principal ideas and strategies, which bring together 34 countries.
“Our joint work on placing the Silk Road as an internationally renowned and seamless cultural tourism route is proving to be very positive. In countries all along the Silk Road, there is growing awareness of tourism’s contribution to cultural preservation, regional cohesion, and intercultural understanding”, said UNWTO Secretary-General Zurab Pollikashvili, during the meeting. “Cross-country tourism projects are growing, and the interest of trade and consumers in the Silk Road continues to rise”, he continued.
Primarily associated with inland routes, the historic Silk Road also comprised a wide network of maritime itineraries linking various cultures. Against this backdrop, UNWTO has assessed the tourism potential of Maritime Silk Road thematic routes across Asia and took the occasion of this year’s meeting to present the research study “Tourism Impact of the 21st century Maritime Silk Road”, jointly developed with Sunny International.
UNWTO’s work around the Silk Road aims to enhance the benefits of tourism development for local Silk Road communities, while stimulating investment and promoting the conservation of the route’s natural and cultural heritage.
While Silk Road destinations stand to benefit from the persistent strong growth of global tourism, putting sustainability and trans-border cooperation first will be key to fully develop its benefits. The conclusions of the Silk Road Ministers Meeting will be further specified during the 8th UNWTO Silk Road Task Force Meeting in Turkey in April, and during the 8th UNWTO International Meeting on Silk Road Tourism in Greece in October 2018.
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