Appointing tourism ambassadors is one of the new approaches Uzbekistan has recently taken to promote the tourism potential of the republic. Different criteria are taken into account when choosing a tourism ambassador for a particular country. But the general principal is the same – they should be people who can attract more tourists to Uzbekistan.
Not many of us know about their other responsibilities and the scope of work they do to promote Uzbekistan’s image in the international arena. To find out more about these and get answers to other questions, during our visit to London, we spoke with Sophie Ibbotson, Uzbekistan’s Tourism Ambassador to the UK.
During the interview, Ms. Ibbotson told us about the projects she has carried out so far to boost tourism in Uzbekistan, plans for the future and reasons why Uzbekistan is a must-visit place.
Hi Sophie, it is really nice meeting you here in London. Could you please tell us about how you have become Uzbekistan’s Tourism Ambassador to the UK?
I have worked with Uzbekistan for about ten years. I wrote the first mainstream English-language tourism guide to Uzbekistan, which is published by company called BradtGuides. It is the best-selling guide book about Uzbekistan in English. I have worked with the embassy, supporting them in the UK, and also done various projects for the Ministry of Culture, for regional government and so on and so forth. When the embassy in London was asked to identify a tourism ambassador for Uzbekistan, they asked me if it was a job I would be prepared to do. Because they understand that I’m very passionate about Uzbekistan, and that I have about ten years’ experience in developing and promoting tourism in Central Asia. Hopefully I’m able to provide some consultancy and good advice, and promote marketing in Uzbekistan.
Could you please tell us, as an Ambassador, what does your job involve? Is it something you plan by yourself or do you get some recommendations from other people?
My job as a tourism ambassador in the UK is slightly different from the other tourism ambassadors for Uzbekistan. Because it is a combination of consultancy as well as marketing. Most of the ambassadors which Uzbekistan has appointed are celebrity figures. So their responsibility is to use their public profile to raise awareness of Uzbekistan. Mine is slightly different because I’m not a celebrity but I’m a tourism specialists and I’m somebody who loves Central Asia and Uzbekistan, in particular, deeply. So my job is working on consultancy, working with government departments, to advise them on their strategic development and their marketing, working with the businesses in Uzbekistan and abroad to build business relationships and to make sure that we can develop the private sector for tourism that is sustainable. And then the third part is to work with the media, ensuring that we raise the profile of Uzbekistan and make sure it is heard of.
In the past couple of months I posted media events, I posted about the reception at the embassy in London, I posted about a number of press trips and I’ve been bringing UK journalists out to Uzbekistan to show them what Uzbekistan has to offer. And I also make sure that I write a lot about Uzbekistan for newspapers and magazines, I give interviews, I organize events and talk to people wherever the opportunity arises. So this morning, for example, I have been at London’s Department of International Trade, advising and talking to the UK Government about what Uzbekistan has to offer in terms of trade and investment, and saying to them where the opportunities lie, the sort of business that we can be doing with Uzbekistan. Tomorrow I will be in Bedford with a large number of travel agents talking to them about Uzbekistan, explaining why it is such an exciting destination and how can they sell it to their clients. So it is quite a various job and I’m very enjoying the fact that I have opportunity to meet so many different people and to engage with them in so many different ways.
Can you remember your first visit to Uzbekistan? How did you like the country back then and has it changed since you knew it in 2008?
I remember my first visit to Uzbekistan very clearly. I was actually driving from the UK to Afghanistan. Of all the countries along the way, there is no doubt that Uzbekistan was the absolute highlight. I went only to Tashkent, to Samarkand and Shakhrisabz and across the border to Tajikistan. After what felt like weeks of driving across nothing in Kazakhstan, of having nowhere good to stay, of having no good food, of having nothing interesting to see, to arrive in Tashkent and to go to the Alisher Navoi opera and ballet theatre and then to go to Samarkand and be completely overwhelmed by the scale and the beauty of the monuments there completely blew me away. Everywhere I went people were intrigued, they were very hospitable, and I think that made a huge difference as well. Welcome that I received in Uzbekistan was unlike anywhere else. That made a very warm feeling and I knew immediately then that I wanted to come back, that I wanted to see more of the country and learn more about it. Hopefully, over the years I have been able to play some part in the development of tourism in Uzbekistan.
What are some common questions that people ask you about Uzbekistan in the UK or outside?
The most common question that people ask me is if it is safe. Because they hear the word “stan” and they assume that there is a security problem, particularly, because it is so close to Afghanistan. Therefore I am always very thrilled to say to them that Uzbekistan is incredibly safe country for people to visit, for foreigners to visit, and especially for women to visit. Whether you are a solo traveler or whether you are traveling with a group, you are not going to have a security problem in Uzbekistan. That is always very positive for me. Because I know people who are going to Paris or Milan, and they are slightly worried about being pickpocketed or having problems with petty crime. I have never heard of a tourist in Uzbekistan who has been assaulted, who has been harassed or who has been pickpocketed. So I am able to say to people confidently that you can go to Uzbekistan and you will be safe. That is very important.
The other thing people ask is “what is there to see in Uzbekistan?” When I start talking to them about the UNESCO World Heritage Sites – Samarkand, Bukhara and Khiva, they know those names, they are familiar with the cities. They just never realized that there were in Uzbekistan. Therefore it is important we reinforce the idea that Uzbekistan is the heart of the Silk Road, that Samarkand and Bukhara are in Uzbekistan. Because a lot of people don’t realize that. We need to connect the idea of the modern nation state of Uzbekistan with its history and with its key sites. People say “I want to visit the Taj Mahal that is in India”, they should say that “I want to visit the Registan that is in Uzbekistan”. That is a marketing challenge that we have to somehow solve and make sure that people realize the sites they want to visit are in Uzbekistan.
