Ashgabat, 16-18 December 2020: The joint project between the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the State Statistics Committee of Turkmenistan “Strengthening institutional and statistical capacity on national accounts” and the joint project between the UNDP and the Ministry of Agriculture and Environmental Protection of Turkmenistan “Sustainable Cities in Turkmenistan: Integrated Green Urban Development in Ashgabat and Avaza” together with the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO ) conducted a three-day online seminar on tourism and tourism statistics.

The aim of the seminar is to discuss with participants the impact of the tourism sector on economic development, especially its role in promoting sustainable development, as well as the exchange of experience and knowledge between stakeholders.

More than 30 representatives of the UNDP, State Statistics Committee of Turkmenistan, Ministry of Culture of Turkmenistan, “Turkmenhowayollary” agency (Turkmenistan Airlines), the Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs of Turkmenistan and tourism agencies took part in the seminar.

“It should be noted that with the outbreak of global pandemic and its impact on development of the world economy, development of tourism and its influence on both the world and the national economy is gaining ever importance in terms of building back better in post pandemic world. Tourism is gradually turning into a large independent branch of the national economy, becoming one of the subjects of world integration processes”, noted Mr. Akmyrat Danatarov, UNDP Programme Analyst for Governance, Economic Diversification, and Inclusive Growth.

During the seminar participants discussed the general assessment of the tourism sector of Turkmenistan and legislation, especially in comparison with regional and global standards and current trends, the potential of cultural tourism in Turkmenistan and assessment of the development potential of the Silk Road heritage corridors located within the borders of modern Turkmenistan. International experts from the United Nations World Tourism Organization Mr. Patrick Fritz and Dr. Gaygysyz Jorayev made presentations on the impact of COVID-19 on Tourism and UN WTO Response, relationship between tourism, economic growth and the protection of tourism resources, tourism-related statistics and datasets, turning data into research, and research into strategy and evidence-based tourism planning, facts-based tourism planning.