Category: Ministrial Meeting on Tourism

7^TH ECO MINISTERIAL MEETING ON TOURISM

ECO Tourism Ministerial Meetings are high-level meetings organized with the participation of the highest-level government officials responsible for tourism in ECO Member States in order to guide ECO’s work in the field of tourism. The most recent 7^th ECO Ministerial Meeting on Tourism preceded by the 9^th Meeting of the High-Level Experts Group on Tourism convened on 27-29 April 2026 in Shusha, ECO Tourism Capital 2026.

The gathering brought together tourism leaders from nine ECO Member States to discuss regional tourism cooperation and development strategies. The opening remarks by ECO Secretary General Ambassador Asad Majeed Khan, highlighted the region’s strong tourism performance, noting that international visitor numbers to ECO Member States surpassed 105 million in 2025. He emphasized the importance of collective action to achieve the ambitious targets for 2035 including increasing tourism’s contribution to national economies and enhancing regional competitiveness.

The ECO Secretary General formally presented the certificate to the Chairman of the State Tourism Agency of the Republic of Azerbaijan in the opening of the meeting.

The Ministers deliberated on a range of strategic initiatives aimed at fostering sustainable and inclusive tourism growth. This included official the launch of the ECO Compendium of Best Practices in Ecotourism, and the Policy Brief on Diversifying Regional Tourism as well as the selection of Aktau as the ECO Tourism Capital 2030. The Meeting also discussed strengthening tourism education, jointly marketing of destinations and promoting investment opportunities across the region.

Participants reaffirmed their commitment to advancing tourism as a driver of economic growth, cultural exchange, and regional connectivity. They emphasized the importance of preserving cultural heritage and promoting tourism as a force for peace, stability, and mutual understanding.

The Meeting concluded with a group photo and appreciating messages to the Government of the Republic of Azerbaijan for its warm hospitality and excellent organization of the event.

SHUSHA DECLARATION

ECO Tourism Ministerial Meetings are high-level meetings organized with the participation of the highest-level government officials responsible for tourism in ECO Member States in order to guide ECO’s work in the field of tourism. The most recent 6th ECO Ministerial Meeting on Tourism preceded by the 8^th Meeting of the High-Level Experts Group on Tourism convened on 25-26 April 2025 in Erzurum, the ECO Tourism Capital for 2025.

The gathering brought together tourism leaders from nine ECO Member States to discuss regional tourism cooperation and development strategies. ECO Secretariat also attended the meeting as well as the representatives of ECO Observers, the Organization of Turkic States and Turkish Cypriot State.

The meeting commenced with opening remarks by ECO Secretary General Ambassador Asad Majeed Khan, who emphasized the vital role of tourism in regional integration and highlighted ECO’s ongoing tourism cooperation initiatives. H.E. Mehmet Nuri Ersoy, Minister of Culture and Tourism of the Republic of Türkiye, outlined Türkiye’s current progress and strategic plans for advancing its tourism industry.

The ministers also approved the selection of Lahore from Pakistan, as the ECO Tourism Capital for 2027, Mary from Turkmenistan for 2028 and Karakol for 2029, recognizing their rich cultural heritage and tourism potential.

Discussions further encompassed the progress of tourism cooperation under ECO framework and deliberations on formulating the tourism-related components of ECO’s new strategic vision for the next decade.

A significant milestone of the meeting was the official launch of the 1st Edition of the ECO Tourism Investment Guide, aimed at attracting investment and promoting tourism opportunities within the ECO region. The meeting concluded with the unanimous adoption of the “Erzurum Declaration,” outlining collective commitments with the decisions taken and future directions for regional tourism cooperation.

ERZURUM DECLARATION

The 4th ECO Ministerial Meeting on Tourism preceded by the 5th High Level Experts Group (HLEG) on Tourism was held on 12-13 December, 2022 in virtual mode. The Meetings were hosted by the Tourism and Cultural Heritage of the Republic of Uzbekistan. Delegations from the Islamic Republic of Iran, Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, the Republic of Tajikistan, the Republic of Türkiye, Turkmenistan and the Republic of Uzbekistan (Host), as well as the delegation of ECO Secretariat attended the Meetings.

The Meeting was inaugurated by H.E Mr. Aziz Abdulhakimov, Deputy Minister and Minister of Tourism and Cultural Heritage of the Republic of Uzbekistan.  In his inaugural statement, he highlighted the potentials and progress of the Republic of Uzbekistan in Tourism Sector under the leadership of the H.E. President Shavkat Mirziyoyev. He highlighted on mutual beneficial cooperation among the Member States in tourism sector.

H.E Mr. Aziz Abdulhakimov, Deputy Minister and Minister of Tourism and Cultural Heritage of the Republic of Uzbekistan was elected as Chairman of the 4th ECO Ministerial Meeting on Tourism. He highlighted the achievement of the Republic of Uzbekistan during the last few years in tourism sector through introducing new policies by their Government. Also he has stressed the holding of exhibitions, fairs, forums, and conferences, seminars with the participation of representatives of the private and public sectors in the ECO framework and emphasized  on creation of special ECO-tourism investment chain between the Member States, attracting investment in the tourism infrastructure including roads, hotels and hostels etc.

In his opening statement ECO Secretary General, H.E. Mr. Khusrav Noziri highlighted that the Tourism sector was placed among one of the ECO’s important areas of interest, prioritized for development under the ECO Vision-2025. He underscored that home to 74 UNESCO registered World Heritage Sites; ECO region has diverse tourism potential. He underlined that the    accessibility of the ECO region is the primary requirement for promoting tourism to and within the region and the development of the tourism industry throughout the region needs intra-regional and international connectivity through all modes of transportation in order to ensure comfortable, cheaper accessible and safe travel in the ECO Region.

He further stressed the importance of embarking on joint tourism programme to provide the ECO region a more attractive, competitive and powerful product image as a tourism destination and to highlight the attractiveness and variety of the ECO tourism experience.

The Secretary General highlighted that the simplification of border crossing procedures for foreign tourists, easing and liberalization of visa regimes will support development of the tourism industry throughout the region. He also mentioned that the development and implementation of harmonized service quality and environmental standards aligned with international best practices are key to raising the competitiveness of the region as a global tourism destination, and attracting tourists from international markets.

He also assured that the ECO Secretariat will extend every possible support to implement the decision of this Meeting.

During the Meeting, the Ministers/Heads of delegates from the Member States delivered their statements/presentations.

Main decisions are as follows:

•          adoption of “Draft Road Map on Facilitating Accelerated Recovery, Safe and Sustainable Development of Tourism after  Covid-19  in the ECO region”

•          Selecting the city of Shahrisabz as ECO Tourism Capital for the years 2024-2025 as well as the cities of …… for the years 2025 and 2026 respectively.

The Samarkand Declaration on Tourism Cooperation was adopted and released.

The 2nd ECO Ministerial Meeting on Tourism and the 4th High Level Experts Group (HLEG) on Tourism was held on 22-23 October, 2009, in Antalya, Turkey. The meetings were hosted by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of the Republic of Turkey. Delegations from the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, the Republic of Azerbaijan, the Islamic Republic of Iran, the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, the Republic of Tajikistan and the Republic of Turkey attended the meetings. Main decisions are as follows:

• To establish ECO Tourism Website
• To functionalize the ECO Tourism Promotion Fund.
• The ECO Tourism guidebook will be finalized for publishing within three months.
• Member States are requested to extend training courses to Afghanistan for promotion and revival of its tourism.
• The implementation of the Plan of Action on Tourism would be followed up by the ECO Secretariat.

The Antalya Declaration on Tourism Cooperation adopted and released.