Uzbekistan is becoming the center of world pilgrimage tourism

International Pilgrimage Tourism Week has kicked off in Samarkand.

The event, organized jointly by the Ministries of Tourism and Cultural Heritage and Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Uzbekistan, the Committee on Religious Affairs, the Center for Islamic Civilization in Uzbekistan, the Muslim Board of Uzbekistan, the Hokimiyat of Samarkand region and other agencies, is attended by representatives of tourism and religious organizations of Uzbekistan and foreign countries, authoritative international organizations.

Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Uzbekistan – Minister of Tourism and Cultural Heritage Aziz Abdukhakimov congratulated the participants of the Week and provided information about the ongoing work on the development of pilgrimage tourism in Uzbekistan.

At the summit dedicated to the development of the pilgrimage tourism market, held this year in Singapore, Samarkand was recognized as the Best Islamic Destination of the Year. At this year's meeting of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation in Baku, the city of Khiva was declared the tourism capital of the Islamic world in 2024. Next year, Samarkand will host the 25th Assembly of the UN World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) and will become the World Capital of Tourism.

An exhibition “Modern Islamic Architecture”, a festival fair “Islamic Applied Art” and other events were held in the complex of the International Tourist Center “Eternal City” and in the tourist village Konigil.