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Laman Ismayilova

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The 1st Meeting of the Tourism Specialized Education Institutions of the ECO Member States has started in Baku.

The event is co-organized by the State Tourism Agency and the Economic Cooperation Organization, Azernews reports.

Official state representatives and agents of tourism educational institutions from nine member states of the organization, including Azerbaijan, Turkiye, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Iran and Pakistan, as well as representatives of the UN World Tourism Organization are participating in the meeting.

Chairman of the State Tourism Agency Fuad Nagiyev, who spoke at the event, said that Azerbaijan attaches special importance to cooperation with OIC countries.

"Tourism is considered one of the priority sectors in Azerbaijan's non-oil economy. Special attention is paid to the development of tourism at the state level in the country. The State Tourism Agency focuses on making Azerbaijan one of the most visited tourist destinations, to achieve an increase in the share of tourism in the economy," said Fuad Nagiyev.

"Surveys show that the majority of tourists who visit Azerbaijan admire the country's history, cultural legacy, cuisine, nature and the hospitality of people. Human resources is one of the main factors that boosts tourism development. Three higher education institutions are currently operating within the State Tourism Agency. In general, education in the field of tourism is conducted in 17 higher education institutions in Azerbaijan," he added.

In his speech, the Chairman of the State Tourism Agency emphasized that the tourism specialty will be taught at Garabagh University.

Noting that tens of thousands of people are working in Azerbaijan's tourism field, Fuad Nagiyev added that there is always a demand for highly qualified, well-trained and skilled personnel in the tourism sector.

"The main goal of tourism education is to provide human capital with the necessary knowledge and skills for all sub-fields of tourism. Today's meeting is an important meeting in terms of the exchange of knowledge and experience of local and foreign higher education institutions providing tourism education," he said.

The Secretary General of the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) Khusrav Noziri said that the Baku Declaration, which will be adopted tomorrow on the 2nd day of the event, reflects the expansion of cooperation on the points mentioned again and the continuous holding of this meeting, which was organized for the first time.

He hailed Azerbaijan's good indicators in the field of tourism. As a result, six cities in the region have been awarded the title of tourism capital, and one of them is Shusha.

Khusrav Noziri underlined that artificial intelligence will be further applied in the tourism industry.

He outlined that the development of tourism exists on the basis of peace and sustainable development.

ECO Secretary General stressed that it is important to meet the specific educational needs in the field of tourism.

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Laman Ismayilova is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @lmntypewriterrr

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