Parkent district of Tashkent region has great potential for the development of rural tourism and guest houses. To attract tourists, the population of the regions developing this industry must acquire the necessary skills. Like any type of tourism, rural tourism requires specialized knowledge and skills in the provision of tourism services and tour products. Especially strong "information hunger" for those entrepreneurs who do not yet have practical experience in this area of business. The full-scale implementation of this task is facilitated by the activities of the European Union project "Strengthening rural and ecotourism through business associations for sustainable economic development in Central Asia", which is successfully implemented by the Association of private tourism agencies of Uzbekistan (APTA). As part of the implementation of this project, with the support of the State Committee for Tourism, a weekly training seminar was held in Parkent. Seminar gathered the residents of Parkent district, who expressed their interest and willingness to master a new type of business. They are attracted by the possibility of organizing and providing tourist services in guest houses. The workshop program was aimed at strengthening the capacity of the participants to organize the work and successfully manage the guesthouses. In particular, the training program included topics of narrow specialization, but extremely important for the successful functioning of guest houses, such as introduction to tourism, creation and management of a guest house, etiquette of receiving and serving tourists. Representatives of the Tashkent International Clinic informed the participants how to provide first aid. The trainers paid particular attention to the standards applied to sanitary and hygienic conditions in guest houses. Experienced trainers of APTA have separately highlighted the importance of effective use of marketing tools. The economic information block of the weekly seminar was extremely rich and informative. In addition to the issues of pricing for travel services and the specifics of creating a business plan, information on online registration of tourists in the online program E-Mehmonhona is also provided. Representatives of the tax committee spoke about the tax rates for family guest houses. International experience clearly demonstrates that the result of the development of rural tourism is the emergence of additional sources of income for the local population, mainly due to the provision of guest houses for overnight stays, catering and leisure activities for tourists. It should be emphasized that rural tourism contributes to the improvement of the quality of life and the families themselves who host tourists, that is, it contributes to an increase in the standard of living in regions where the rural tourism industry is developed. This means that the knowledge gained in such seminars falls into fertile soil and will help the development of rural tourism in our country.
