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Silk Road Samarkand has recently put on events covering a broad spectrum of sectors : pharmaceutical , cosmetic and IT , among others , and meetings covering textile / fashion associations and banking ( Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank ) were being held during my visit .
Booking visibility is improving , the CEO flagged . IT and pharma events are already in the diary for 2025 and there are indications of interest to stage events from tobacco , textile , construction and agricultural companies – all strong sectors of the Uzbek economy .
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rooms ( Andijan , Navoi + Shakhrisabz , Bukhara and Tashkent ) while its 5-star neighbour , the 241-room Silk Road by Minyoun Stars of Ulugbek , has four big conference rooms and one banqueting hall . Both hotels have large ballrooms . The Savitsky Plaza has one 184sqm conference room .
The resort ’ s congress centre has 12 conference halls and meeting rooms , each named after a precious or semi-precious stone and all with breakout space . Its size ( 18,000sqm ) makes it ideal for hosting large international events .
The complex also has the first part of the expo centre and is in the process of building the second part ( c . 12,000sqm when complete ).
Since 2023 Silk Road Samarkand has hosted over 30 international events including the EBRD ’ s annual
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meeting , a round of the World Triathlon Championship Series , the General Assembly of the World Tourism Organisation ( UNWTO ) and the Fédération Internationale de l ’ Automobile ( FIA ) motorsport governing body ’ s 120th anniversary conference .
Creating opportunity Zafar Butaev , CEO of Silk Road Samarkand , is keen to develop MICE opportunities at the resort : “ For MICE tourism you need to have an interesting location from a tourist perspective and then you need the facilities and infrastructure . Leisure tourism in Samarkand is already developed as a brand . Now we want to create opportunities for people to come to Samarkand not just for leisure but for MICE tourism .”
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Left : Silk Road Samarkand Congress Centre |
Training is key Silk Road Samarkand may have opened at an opportune time with Covid in the rear-view mirror , but what about the challenges , given that it is still very much in its infancy for major event hosting ? Recruiting and training employees to deliver the requisite 5-star service to clients and seeking employee buy-in to the project and thereby hoping they remain loyal were highlighted by Butaev as challenges in this respect .
“ We are spending a lot of time training people and trying to instil a philosophy that people should grow with us . My message is : “ We are a brand new company , we ’ re bringing good things to the region , we ’ re investing a considerable sum of money , which means that we really believe in the project .”
Aspirations for the future ? Butaev hopes that in 10 years ’ time the resort ’ s extensive tree landscaping would make Silk Road Samarkand a very green place , a huge garden with an amazing ecology that would attract not only foreigners but people from all over Uzbekistan . The aspiration is to establish a firm base for MICE events as well as leisure . Could the business model for Silk Road Samarkand be replicated elsewhere in Uzbekistan ? Well , the Uzbek government has been holding discussions with UNESCO on expanding the tourist potential of historic cities like Khiva and Bukhara . n
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