Nur-Sultan to host 8th UNWTO Global Summit on Urban Tourism
During the Forum in Lisbon, Mayor of Nur-Sultan Bakhyt Sultanov and UNWTO Secretary-General Zurab Pololikashvili signed the Agreement on holding the 8th UNWTO Global Summit on Urban Tourism.
The summit will also include a master class on the business travel industry (MICE) organized by the International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA).
Hosting the UNWTO Global Summit is an opportunity for the city to present itself as a new tourism hub in Central Asia, demonstrate new directions in the city development, and strengthen cooperation with major international associations and companies.
As a result, the summit will make it possible to attract more international business events and increase the flow of tourists to the capital of Kazakhstan.
Besides, the Global Summit will attract leading tourism experts to Nur-Sultan, bring together public and private partners of all sectors and play a fundamental role in the new paradigm of urban tourism development, in which tourism will become an instrument of social cohesion and cultural preservation, in addition to the fundamental contribution it makes to economic activities.
In a welcoming speech at the UNWTO Mayors Forum for Sustainable Urban Tourism, Bakhyt Sultanov noted that Nur-Sultan has the infrastructure necessary for international events.
"We are privileged to take up the baton of such an important summit from such remarkable cities as Seoul, Kuala Lumpur, Barcelona, Moscow, and Istanbul, and organize the prestigious event in the city of Nur-Sultan," said Sultanov.
The capital of Kazakhstan turned 20 years old. The population of the city tripled, exceeding one million over that time. There are representatives of around 100 ethnic groups living in peace and harmony. Nur-Sultan has been awarded the UNESCO Cities for Peace Prize. All this was ensured owing to the full support from the First President of Kazakhstan, Nursultan Nazarbayev.
"Nur-Sultan is now one of the youngest and fastest-growing capitals in the world, a business and event hub of Central Asia, which has facilities striking with their peculiar architecture and uniqueness, state-of-the-art infrastructure," the mayor said. He added that twenty years ago, there were only 3 hotels in the city, whereas today there are 231.
The World Tourism Organization is a United Nations agency comprising 158 member countries, 6 associate members and over 500 affiliated members. The main goal of the organization is to ensure the universally accessible and sustainable development of tourism.