ITB Asia News 2019 Preview Edition

12 EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW

12 EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW Uzbekistan targets “Haj plus” market With an enormous wealth of Islamic sites, the nation is reaching out to the world at ITB Asia Bahruz Hamzaev is Strategy Advisor to the State Committee for Tourism Development of Uzbekistan. We asked him how tourism has been progressing in past years in his nation. Inbound tourism has been increasing exponentially. In 2016, we had 1.3 million tourists. For the end of this year, projections are for 6.3 million. Every year, the number of tourists coming to Uzbekistan is doubling. One of the main reasons for that is the easing of the visa process. By 1 January 2020, the number of visa-free countries will reach 86, including China. This is the biggest driver of tourist numbers in our country. More airlines are also flying to Uzbekistan. How are you looking to further increase tourism figures? We would like to diversify. At the moment, the core audience is generally the baby-boomers. They stay longer, they stay in better hotels, and their expenditure is higher. However, tourism in Uzbekistan is seasonal, and we would like to change that, so we are targeting a younger audience, including millennials and solo travellers. Uzbekistan is the number five safest destination globally in the solo travel index. It has been one of the safest countries for the past ten years. So, we would like to increase the capacity for tourism, diversify, and have more tourists throughout the year. WE WOULD LIKE TO INCREASE THE CAPACITY FOR TOURISM, DIVERSIFY, AND HAVE MORE TOURISTS THROUGHOUT THE YEAR. How important are the Eastern and Southeast Asian markets for you? They are equally as important as Europe. Uzbekistan is mainly a Muslim country, with world renowned Shrines in Silk Road places like Tashkent and Bukhara. Samarkand is home to dozens of magnificent tombs. Notable figures like the emperor Tamerlane, the astronomer Ulughbek and Kusam Ibn Abbas, the cousin of the Prophet Muhammad, who brought Islam to this land in the 7th Century, are all buried here. There is also the tomb of the prophet Daniel, or Daniyar as Uzbeks call him. For this, people from Malaysia and Indonesia are increasingly attracted to our country. Added to this are the facts that we have a direct flight from Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia, and since the beginning of this year, there are regular flights from Jakarta, and we have the visa-free system for these travellers. Our idea is to attract more people for Haj “plus”, where people can prolong their journey with a visit to our sites. Many add a third destination after doing Mecca and Medina. Now, as we have a direct flight, this makes it interesting to pass by Uzbekistan. Another interesting fact is that Indonesia and Malaysia don’t have a winter, and Uzbekistan has four real seasons, with snow in winter and great ski resorts. Many of these people have never seen snow, so that’s an added plus. How important is ITB Asia for reaching your potential clients? It’s one of the shows that our government has listed as “not to be missed”. We consider the region very important as a potential market Bahruz Hamzaev Strategy Advisor to the State Committee for Tourism Development, Uzbekistan NEW TOURIST WELCOME CENTRES IN TASHKENT On 22 July, Bekabad and Tashkent districts of the Tashkent region on the territory of the “Oybek” and “Gisht-Kuprik” checkpoints opened two tourist information centres. The checkpoints are respectively on the borders the Republic of Tajikistan and the Republic of Kazakhstan. Earlier, during the visit of the President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev to the Tashkent region a number of tasks were set, one of which was the creation of tourist information centres at these points. The purpose of tourist information centres is to provide foreign visitors with all the necessary information about the tourist potential of the country, accommodation facilities, popular destinations and domestic routes. Also, the centres provide tourists with handouts in the form of booklets, brochures and magazines about the regions of the Republic, as well as assistance in calling taxis and buying tourist SIM cards ITB ASIA NEWS • Thursday 10 October 2019 www.itb-asia-news.com

SPECIAL FEATURE WELLNESS 13 Yoga at the Handara resort, Bali Wellness is becoming an essential part of the travel industry around the world Wellness tourism is becoming increasingly important not only in Asia but also in other parts of the world. In recent years, countries such as Italy, Morocco, Spain or the USA are turning into popular destinations for wellness. While Asia accounts for some of the most prestigious wellness retreats around the world, Europe is still leading in terms of wellness trips. In its annual Global Wellness Trends ,released at the end of last year, the Global Wellness Institute indicates that the wellness industry was worth US9.4 billion, including all the programmes, services and products dedicated to the wellbeing of people. According to GWT, wellness tourism is a segment that has been growing by 6.5% annually from 2015-2017 (more than twice the growth rate for general tourism) with travellers accounting for 830 million wellness trips in 2017, a growth of 139 million trips over 2015. The blossoming of the wellness sector in the travel industry is driven by the rapid rise of the middle class around the world and particularly in Asia. According to the latest report, Europe remains the destination for the largest number of wellness trips, while North America leads in wellness tourism expenditures. According to the Global Wellness Tourism Economy report, “Wellness tourism growth is very much a tale of developing markets, with Asia-Pacific, Latin America-Caribbean, Middle East- North Africa, and Sub-Saharan Africa accounting for 57 per cent of the increase in wellness trips. Over the past five years, Asia is the number one growth sector in both wellness tourism trips and revenues.” The report indicates that Asia Pacific recorded 258 million trips with expenditures reaching US$ 136.7 bn in 2017. The continent was second after Europe with 292 million trips and ahead of North America with 204 million trips. Growth has been driven by an expanding global middle class, growing consumer desire to adopt a wellness lifestyle, rising interest in experiential travel, and increasing affordability of flights and travel options. While there is a trend to practice holistic wellbeing at home or in a private environment, spas and hotels in Asia continue to attract travellers looking for a healthy mind and body. The continent has indeed some of the best renowned spas and wellness retreats in the world. But many countries are now looking at promoting wellness destinations to their visitors. The wellness thematic is also a good way for governments to diversify their tourist market, by carving out a niche which will can help reduce seasonality, fighting over tourism by promoting secondary destinations. The well-being factor is also accompanied by organic-driven gastronomy and eco-consumption and the inclusion of the person’s wishes. As an example, some luxury hotels offer free yoga sessions and meditation to their guests. A new trend is group of travellers bringing their own yoga coach. Wellness retreats are even expanding into urban destinations with many brands moving into metropolises to create “city oases”. As more consumers incorporate wellness into their lifestyles, there are many opportunities for the travel business to infuse wellness into their offerings and capture spending by wellness travellers ACCORDING TO THE ANNUAL REPORT OF GLOBAL WELLNESS TRENDS, WELLNESS TOURISM IS A SEGMENT THAT HAS BEEN GROWING BY 6.5% ANNUALLY SINCE 2015- 2017 WITH TRAVELLERS ACCOUNTING FOR 830 MILLION WELLNESS TRIPS IN 2017. ITB ASIA NEWS • Thursday 10 October 2019