SCO - Shanghai Cooperation Organisation

07/07/2025 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 07/08/2025 21:59

SCO Meeting of the Heads of Tourism Administrations

7 july 2025

SCO Meeting of the Heads of Tourism Administrations

SCO Meeting of the Heads of Tourism Administrations
On July 7, 2025, regular meeting of the heads of tourism administrations of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization member states was held in Qingdao with the participation of SCO Secretary General N.Yermekbayev. The event was held in a hybrid format and was chaired by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of the People's Republic of China.
In his speech, the Secretary General stressed the importance of tourism in cultural and humanitarian cooperation in the Organization. Visa liberalization, promotion of joint tourism products and routes, improvement of infrastructure and development of youth tourism are noted as areas that can increase the practical impact of cooperation.
N.Yermekbayev also drew the participants' attention to the growing popularity of cultural events in the SCO member states, including exhibition and fair events.
SCO Meeting of the Heads of Tourism Administrations
The heads of the delegations shared their assessments of the joint work over the past period, exchanged views on the current level of cooperation in the field of tourism, and confirmed their readiness to further unleash the tourism potential of the SCO member states.
The meeting participants noted the contribution of the city of Qingdao as the "Tourist and Cultural Capital of the SCO" (2024-2025) and expressed support for the candidacy of the city of Cholpon Ata (Kyrgyz Republic) to receive this status for the period 2025-2026.
Following the Meeting of the heads of the tourism administrations of the SCO member states, a Protocol was signed.
The mechanism of regular meetings of heads of tourism administrations of the SCO member states was established in 2016 in order to enhance cooperation in the tourism sector and promote joint initiatives in this area. One of the forms of cooperation has become the practice of defining one of the cities of the SCO member states as the "Tourism and Cultural Capital of the SCO". Previously, this status was assigned to Varanasi (2022-2023), Almaty (2023-2024) and Qingdao (2024-2025).
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