The World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), established in 1975, is the United Nations agency responsible for the promotion of responsible, sustainable and universally accessible tourism, the leading international organization in the field of tourism and travel.

As the leading international organization in the field of tourism, UNWTO promotes tourism as a driver of economic growth, inclusive development and environmental sustainability and offers leadership and support to the sector in advancing knowledge and tourism policies worldwide. UNWTO has 160 Member States, 6 Associate Members, 2 Observers and over 500 Affiliate Members.

The General Assembly is the principal gathering of the World Tourism Organization. It meets every two years to approve the budget and program of work and to debate topics of vital importance to the tourism sector.  The official languages of UNWTO are Arabic, English, French, Russian and Spanish.

Uzbekistan became a member of the UNWTO in 1993. The organization highly appreciates the work carried out in the country for the study and wide dissemination of the rich spiritual and cultural heritage, restoration and preservation of ancient monuments and architectural complexes. Strengthening cooperation with the UNWTO was the adoption of several declarations: in 1994, the Samarkand Declaration on the development of tourism along the Great Silk Road was adopted, in 1999, the Khiva Declaration on tourism and the preservation of cultural heritage, and in 2002, the Bukhara Declaration on tourism along the Silk Road.

Large-scale activity is carried out in Uzbekistan to further increase the tourism potential, strategies are being developed for cooperation with the UNWTO aimed at developing national and global tourism.

According to Dunyo News Agency, in 2020 Uzbekistan officially put forward its candidacy for hosting the 25th session of the UNWTO General Assembly in Samarkand in 2023. According to the voting results at the 24th UNWTO General Assembly in Madrid, Uzbekistan overtook Portugal. The announcement of Samarkand as the venue for the 25th UNWTO General Assembly in 2023 became undoubtedly a historic event.

Gulrukh Abdullaeva, UzA