The UNWTO Silk Road Programme is pleased to report that the 3^rd UNWTO Silk Road Task Force Meeting was successfully held last week in Baku, Azerbaijan (22-23 April 2013). Significant progress was made in formulating priorities and concrete activities for the new Silk Road Action Plan 2014/2015. Additionally, the participants were able to advance in three crucial areas of Silk Road tourism (marketing and promotion, destination management and travel facilitation), while recognising and agreeing to prioritise the link between sustainable tourism and the conservation of historical and cultural Silk Road heritage.

The debate and input from the participants was excellent; the attendees included representatives from UNWTO, United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and 15 Member States - Albania, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Croatia, Georgia, Iraq, Israel, Japan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Pakistan, Russian Federation, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.

The UNWTO Silk Road Programme would like to convey its gratitude to the Minister of Culture and Tourism of the Republic of Azerbaijan for generously hosting this meeting and enabling so many of our Member States to participate. The feedback from all participants has been excellent, and Baku clearly provided a perfect setting for the first Task Force Meeting to be held in a Silk Road destination.

Additional information:

Silk Road Task Force Meeting - Press Release

Silk Road Task Force Meeting - Flickr