A series of webinars were held in Bukhara as part of the “Model for Sustainable Tourism in Central Asia: Capacity Building, Awareness Raising, Technology Implementation” project (hereinafter referred to as the project).
The event was organized by the Association of Private Tourism Organizations of Uzbekistan (APTA) and the Department of Tourism Development of the Bukhara Region with the support of the State Committee of the Republic of Uzbekistan for Tourism Development. The project is part of the EU initiative “Switch Asia” and aims to increase the tourism potential of the countries of the Central Asian region. For the successful implementation of the project, a strong team of effectively working organizations from 6 countries (Greece, Cyprus, Latvia, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan) had been formed.
In Uzbekistan, the Association of private tourism agencies of Uzbekistan (APTA) was selected as the sponsor of the project. Uzbekistan is already moving towards green technologies, as stated in the adopted strategy for Uzbekistan's transition to a green economy for 2019-2030:
“The low level of energy efficiency of the economy, irrational consumption of natural resources, slow technology update, weak participation of small businesses in the implementation of innovative solutions for the development of a“ green ”economy impede the achievement of priority national goals and objectives in the field of sustainable development of the country."
To implement the project tasks, at the first stage, applications from participants were collected and a training course in the format of webinars was organized for representatives of travel companies and the hotel business. The first webinars have already taken place in Tashkent and Samarkand at the end of 2020. As part of educational webinars in Bukhara, 103 participants were trained according to the GSTC criteria for sustainable tourism, corresponding to the standards and specifics of green procurement to increase competitiveness.
Participant certification training focuses on the following standards:
ISO 14001: 2015 - Environmental Management System;
HCMI - Hotel Carbon Measurement Initiative.
It is a methodology and toolkit designed for the hospitality industry; CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility). The introduction of environmental technologies in accommodation facilities allows attracting environmentally conscious customers, whose share is steadily growing, while the additional costs associated with a responsible attitude are compensated by equally responsible guests and resource savings during the further operation of the hotel or guest house building.
Webinars will also be organized for hoteliers in Samarkand, Khorezm and Tashkent.