Uzbekistan may become an alternative for Russian tourists who wish to continue vacationing in the Dominican Republic, but whose plans have been affected by the conflict in Ukraine, the Caribbean country’s ambassador Hans Dannenberg Castellanos told Sputnik news agency.
“We firmly believe that given the good air connections this country has and the significant number of airlines serving the city of Tashkent, Uzbekistan could become an alternative for Russian tourists and those from all over this region who wish to continue vacationing in the Dominican Republic,” he said in an interview during the International Investment Forum, being held from March 24 to 26 in Tashkent, the capital of Uzbekistan. Dannenberg Castellanos is ambassador concurrent to Russia.
“We have seen how Tashkent, the Uzbek capital, has become a real hub connecting the Far and Near East with Central Asia. Today, citizens of 86 nations can come to Uzbekistan without a visa,” he said.
Dannenberg Castellanos participated in the event to find ways to maintain the flow of tourists from Russia and Central Asia to the Dominican Republic. The flow was interrupted after Russia sent troops to Ukraine.
In addition to the development of Uzbek inbound tourism, progress has been seen in outbound tourism, the diplomat assures. “Visa applications from Uzbeks who want to visit the Dominican Republic have more than doubled during our tenure as head of mission,” he said.
The ambassador highlighted Uzbekistan’s potential as a tourist sending country, because “it has a population of 35 million people with an increasingly strong middle class, it has a national airline with new 787 Dreamliners, which could easily continue one of its flights to Israel or Europe to the Caribbean,” he said. Some 6.7 million Uzbek tourists traveled in 2019.
Read more in Spanish:
Sputnik News
29 March 2022