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In 2022, the Association of Private Tourism Agencies of Uzbekistan (hereinafter referred to as APTA), as part of partnership projects with the support of the Ministry of Tourism and Cultural Heritage of the Republic of Uzbekistan, carried out fruitful work to develop the tourism sector in the following areas:

- Development of Community Based Tourism in Uzbekistan             by improving the professional competence of rural residents. (Further development of family guest houses in the country, increasing the level of service);

- Sustainable tourism (energy efficiency, introduction of "green" technologies in the tourism sector);

- Exhibition activity (organizationand participation in international tourism exhibitions/fairs);

-Training of representatives of the tourism sector (conducting training seminars / organization of study tours);

- Coverage of the events held on the official website, pages in the social networks of the APTO and in the media.

Implementation of projects. Within the framework of the USAID's FutureGrowth Initiative Program "Development of Community Based Tourism in Uzbekistan  by improving the professional competence of rural residents"(Phase II) at the 1st stage of work, the APTA specialists developed a draft classifier for family guest houses, as well as a badge of rating stars and a certificate. This initiative will allow family guest houses in Uzbekistan to receive rating stars, which will improve the quality of services and competitiveness. The Draft Criteria for Quality Evaluation establishes a scoring system for classifying family guest houses. According to the draft, the categories are denoted by the symbol "*" (star) and are classified into three categories. The highest category is "***" (3 stars), the lowest "*" (1 star). Currently, the draft classifier has been sent by the APTA to the Ministry of Tourism and Cultural Heritage of the Republic of Uzbekistan for consideration and approval.

In November-December 2022, two-day training seminars “Classification of family guest houses as an effective tool for attracting tourists” were organized for CBT representatives. Seminar - trainings were held in the Republic of Karakalpakstan, Khorezm, Tashkent, Samarkand and Bukhara regions. A total of 86 CBT representatives were trained, out of 33 women and 53men.

At the 2nd stage of the project, the Association of Private Tourism Agencies of Uzbekistan (APTA) successfully implemented a number of activities under the project. APTA organized 7 three-day training seminars on the topic "Effective management of a family guest houses" for owners of guest houses, as well as for potential owners of guest houses in Namangan, Andijan and Ferghana regions, in which 133 participants took part, including 88 women and 45 men (49 youth).

The 2nd stage also included marketing research, APTA experts conducted an analysis of data in the direction of CBT tourism in Fergana, Namangan and Andijan regions.

Also, APTA has done work on the development of training videos for family guest houses.

As part ofEuropean Union Program "Switch Asia" project "Model for sustainable tourism in Central Asia: Building Capacities, Creating Awareness, Introducing technology"in January 2022, a round table was held between the APTa and the Certification Center for Tourism Services under the Ministry of Tourism and Cultural Heritage of the Republic of Uzbekistan on sustainable tourism. In February 2022, APTA successfully implemented training seminars on the topic "Marketing sustainable tourism for MSMEs" in Tashkent, Samarkand, Bukhara and Khorezm regions. The total number of participants was 229 tourism representatives. In June 2022, the final stage of training took place in Tashkent.

Also, APTa, together with the State Unitary Enterprise "Certification Center for Tourist Services" under the Ministry of Tourism and Cultural Heritage of the Republic of Uzbekistan, carried out work on the implementation of the HCMI program, the installation of "smart" meters and ambient sensors.A total of 40 smart meters and ambient sensors were installed in accommodation facilities/travel companies.

The main partners in this project were:

 - Greek Development Agency of Iraklion City (Greece);

 - EuropeanProfiles (Greece);

-APINTECH(Cyprus).

Within the framework of the European Union Central Asia Invest V project«Silk Road CBT Initiative: Connecting Central Asian Community-Based Tourism and European Markets»in collaboration with ACTEDweretraining seminars were held for 170 representatives of guest houses on the following topics: “Services of family guest houses, equipment of family guest houses, legal framework and registration”, “Financial literacy and business planning”. Following the results of the training seminars “Financial Literacy and Business Planning”, which were held in August 2022 in the Fergana, Andijan and Namangan regions, the business plans developed by the participants were submitted to the business plan competition for representatives of the CBT of Uzbekistan. From the submitted business plans, members of the competition committee, which included business consultants and representatives of ACTED and APTA, selected 7 winners. The winners received small grants (in the form of a co-contribution) to implement their business plans.

Also, within the framework of the above Program, APTA specialists worked on the development of CBT tourism in the Fergana Valley through the collection of data and analysis of CBT facilities together with private providers and the Main Departments of Tourism and Cultural Heritage of Fergana, Namangan and Andijan regions. CBT companies were consulted in cooperation with the European Federation of Rural Tourism (RURALTOUR) and the Latvian Rural Tourism Association.

There was an exchange of experience with partner organizations in Kyrgyzstan - the Kyrgyz Community Based Tourism Association (KCBTA) and Tajikistan - the Tajik Community Based TourismAssociation (TCBTA). As part of the exchange of experience, a study tour was organized for representatives of the tourism sector to Kyrgyzstan, as well as an information tour for 11 European tour operators and 3 German journalists to Uzbekistan and Tajikistan.

On September 23, 2022, within the framework of the European Union Program "Central Asia Invest V", a training tour was held in Germany for CBT specialists from Uzbekistan (APTA specialists), Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. This study tour was organized by ACTED with the support of the European Union, ECEAT and the Federal Union of Independent Travel Companies "ASR Bundesverband eV" (ASR). Here, APTA specialists got acquainted with the activities of family guest houses, the development of the CBT sector, tourist facilities, and the work of Tourist Information Centers (TICs).

Also, within the framework of the European Union Program "SwitchAsia" Project "Promoting Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy production in the Community-Based Tourism Sector in Central Asia", ACTEDan online survey was conducted to develop a branding and marketing strategy for the CBT sector in Central Asia.

On May 18 - 25, 2022, an information tour was held to Samarkand and Bukhara for representatives of the travel industry from Europe and Central Asia - participants in the International Tourism Exhibition in the B2B format "Tashkent Travel Mart 2022". The infotour was organized by APTA with the support of the European Union Programs Switch Asia and CAI, the USAID Future Growth Initiative, ACTED. Also in May 2022, APTA took part in the Regional Round Table "Access to Green Finance for MSMEs in Central Asia" in Dushanbe (Tajikistan).

In July 2022, an introductory seminar “Introduction to sustainable tourism practices among local CBT MSMEs” was held for CBT representatives from the regions of Uzbekistan. Also, a training tour was held for representatives of the CBT from Central Asia in the city of Berlin (Germany). This tour was organized by ACTED with the support of Mascontour, as well as the Association of Private Tourism Agencies of Uzbekistan, the Tajik Community Based Tourism Association (TCBTA) and the Kyrgyz Community Based Tourism Association (KCBTA).

The study tour was attended by 15 representatives of the Central Asian Union (5 participants each from Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan). In particular, representatives of the CBT from Bukhara (family guest house "Koh-i-noor"), Samarkand (family guest house "Fayz"), Ferghana (family guest house "Uvaysiy"), Tashkent region (family guest house guest house "KumushkonSaxovati") and the Republic of Karakalpakstan (Yurt camp).

As part of the project, in August-September 2022, APTA took part in organizing cascade training seminars on sustainable tourism for CBT representatives in Tashkent, Bukhara, Samarkand, Fergana regions and in the Republic of Karakalpakstan. And also in the organization of training seminars on energy issues for MSMEs in the tourism sector for representatives of the Ministry of Tourism and Cultural Heritage of the Republic of Uzbekistan, the State Unitary Enterprise "Tourist Services Certification Center" under the Ministry of Tourism and Cultural Heritage of the Republic of Uzbekistan, the Main Department of Tourism and Cultural Heritage of Tashkent, CBT representatives in Tashkent region and Tashkent city.

In total, 164 representatives of the tourism sector were trained within the framework of the above trainings.

Exhibition activity.On May 17 of this year, the International Tourism Exhibition in the B2B format “Tashkent Travel Mart 2022”, which was held under the auspices of Zero Carbon Fair, was held at the Hilton Tashkent City hotel in the capital. This event was held as part of the implementation of the Decree of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Sh.M. Mirziyoyev "On additional measures to diversify domestic tourism services" №. PP-232 dated April 30, 2022

The event was organized by the APTA with the support of the Ministry of Tourism and Cultural Heritage of Uzbekistan, the European Union Switch Asia Project, the USAID Future Growth Initiativet Project, the Embassy of the Republic of Uzbekistan in the Federal Republic of Germany, ACTED and the International Finance Corporation (IFC). The exhibition was attended by the most active representatives of tourist organizations of Uzbekistan and around the world. These are more than 90 companies, domestic and foreign, from more than 10 countries. As well as representatives of the media of Uzbekistan, media from Germany and Romania.

On September 20-22, 2022, within the framework of the European Union Programs "Switch Asia" and "Central Asia Invest V", the Association of Private Tourism Agencies of Uzbekistan and tour operators "Asia Adventures" and "Dolores Travel Services" took part in the International Tourism Exhibition TOP RESSA – 2022 in Paris, France. For participants, ACTED organized a booth to promote CBT destinations in Central Asia. Representatives of the Associations of Private Tourism Agencies of Uzbekistan held negotiations on cooperation with potential partners (Associations and tour operators) from France, Portugal, the United Arab Emirates, French Polynesia, etc.

As part ofUSAID's FutureGrowth Initiative Programs on October 3-6, 2022, APTA took part in the ADVENTURE TRAVEL WORLD SUMMIT (ATWS), Lugano (Switzerland). At B2B meetings, APTA representatives negotiated cooperation with tour operators from Germany, Italy, USA, as well as with representatives of Import Promotion Desk (Germany).

And also, on November 30 - December 2, 2022 - participation in the 27th Tashkent International Tourism Fair "Tourism on the Silk Road" (TITF-2022) within the framework of the European Union "Switch Asia" Program.

Training for representatives of the tourism industry.With the support of APTA partners, conditions were created for training representatives of the tourism sector in their office. Thanks to this, most of the training events for partner projects took place in the APTA office. And also, in the period from January to April 2022, language courses were held for beginners in German and English and for advanced students in English.

APTA organized consultations and training courses for hotel employees in cooperation with foreign SES experts - UliTrosien and Fred Schur:

- Inspection, training and consultations of 18 hotels in the Tashkent region, Tashkent, Samarkand, Bukhara and Khiva;

- Training courses for about 150 hotel and restaurant employees on the following topics: cleaning, verbal and non-verbal communication, complaint management, etc.;

- Advising hotel management on the optimization of processes in hotels;

- Advising and training employees of the State Unitary Enterprise "Tourist Services Certification Center" of the Ministry of Tourism and Cultural Heritage of the Republic of Uzbekistan on a new draft Uzbek catalog of hotel classification criteria (1-5 stars) based on European HOTEL STARS UNION.

- Preparation for obtaining the future quality mark "Regional Cuisine Restaurant". Restaurant inspection. A conversation about future criteria.

As part of the training courses for family guest houses, APTA has developed a questionnaire that is designed to provide information on the strengths and weaknesses in the management of guest houses, their marketing work and business development. A statistical survey was conducted among 200 guest houses in the Tashkent region, the cities of Samarkand, Bukhara, Samarkand, Khiva and Nukus.

In 2023, APTA, in collaboration with Senior Expert Service, plans to offer training modules for the hospitality industry.

Development of partnership relations with foreign organizations.May 17, 2022 as part ofThe international tourism exhibition in the B2B format "Tashkent Travel Mart 2022" APTA signed a number of Memorandums of Understanding. In order to support the activities of travel companies and determine the importance of the tourism sector for the economies of states, bilateral Memorandums of Understanding were signed between the Association of Private Tourist Organizations of Uzbekistan and:

- Federal Union of Independent Travel Companies "ASR Bundesverband eV" (Germany);

- National Association of Travel Agencies of Romania (ANAT);

- Tajik Community Based Association(TCBTA).

The following areas of mutual cooperation were defined as the subject of these Memorandums: promoting, within its competence, the development of cooperation between the parties, facilitating the establishment and development of contacts between Uzbek and European tourism organizations / tourism organizations of Tajikistan, companies, as well as expanding business, cooperation and investment ties in the tourism sector,promoting an increase in the flow of tourists.

On October 23, 2022, a Memorandum of Understanding was signedwith the Latvian rural tourism association "Country traveller". The Memorandum defines opportunities for cooperation in the field of further development of tourism based on communities, research, exchange of experience.

As part of the World Adventure Travel Summit, which was held in Switzerland from 3 to 6 October 2022, APTA became a memberThe Adventure Travel Trade Association (ATTA) is the largest global network of adventure travel leaders.

In December 2022, APTA entered into a cooperation agreement with the European Federation of Rural Tourism (RURALTOUR), signed a trilateral agreement - a Memorandum of Understanding with KCBTA and TCBTA on the use of the Good Travel Seal certificate for sustainable tourism in Central Asia, as well as a bilateral partnership agreement with the Kyrgyz Association of Tour Operators (KATO).