The Meeting of the Tourism Administrations Heads of SCO Member States took place on 22 May, via videoconference, attended by representatives from tourism administrations in China, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Head of the Federal Agency for Tourism, Zarina Doguzova, headed the Russian delegation at the meeting.
Videoconference participants focused on promoting tourism cooperation. In her remarks, Ms Doguzova pointed out that “for many years SCO member states have been making a significant contribution to promoting international tourism in Russia. In 2019, Russia welcomed 6.6 million tourists from SCO countries, or 27 percent of all inbound tourists. Over the same period, 6.3 million Russian tourists visited SCO member states. These statistics are clear evidence of the importance of tourism exchanges between Russia and SCO countries, and the need to restore them as quickly as possible once the epidemiological situation gets back to normal.”
During the event, the participants approved the draft Joint Action Plan to Implement the Programme for the Development of Cooperation among SCO Member States in the Tourism Sector for 2021–2022.