JAHONGIR MASHOKIROV
                  PhD

         Hi! My name is Jahongir, from Tajikistan. I would like to introduce muself and say few sentences about the main purpose of  my study visit to Spain.

        I am working on improving my academic knowledge and skills in Spatial planning and management of tourism. GI technologies applied to e-tourism. Touristic heritage. Generation and commercialization of touristic products and GIS applied to tourism at the PhD Program of the Faculty of Tourism, UMA. My expected enhanced professional knowledge and skills after my mobility would give a very good impact in establishing the strong academic and research activities on Tourism in Tajikistan. There is an urgent need in Tajikistan on developing of the contemporary education and sophisticated research activities as well as in training professionals and scientists with advanced and competitive knowledge and skills in the tourism management.   

      I am particularly interested in the environment science enables to development of tourism and I am really impressed with all the work being done in the environment today. I believe I would be a great fit for helping out on projects that involve mapping, GIS, and being out in the elements to get necessary data needed to help.   Tourism has a strong correction with sustainable economics. Suitable management for tourism development is essential in order to be able to maximize the positive impacts and minimize negative impacts on all aspect of tourism. This will help to conserve and maintain biological richness of the areas and opportunities in the field of tourism management.   Tourism in Tajikistan region is in early stage of development. The growth of tourist arrival increased to 2.61 percent from year 2005 to 2014. The role of Governments towards the tourism development is weak.

       Tajikistan, located in the heart of Asia, is currently developing its tourist infrastructure to make available to the international market its wealth of unspoilt natural beauty, its ancient history and the unrivalled hospitality of its people. Independent since the break-up of the Soviet Union in 1991, Tajikistan is poor in natural resources but rich in tourist attractions: it offers extraordinary opportunities for adventure and eco-cultural tourism with untouched landscapes, archaeological treasures and attractive itineraries for walking and trekking with charming homestays along the way. Tajikistan is a member of UNWTO since 2007. UNWTO and the Government of Tajikistan have agreed to advance the country’s tourism sector through a series of concrete initiatives. Tourism development in the country will be based on three axes, ecotourism, mountain tourism and cultural tourism, and will explore Tajikistan’s positioning along the Silk Road, the historic trade route linking numerous tourism destinations. In January 2014, Globe Spots published a list of top 10 destinations to visit in 2014.

         Tajikistan was second in this list behind Malta but ahead of Romania, Sierra Leone, Indonesia, Lithuania and others. It was mentioned that just getting there is an adventure on its own. This perfectly illustrates travel and tourism in Tajikistan. The country has great cultural and historic heritage combined with beautiful mountain scenery. However, it has underdeveloped tourism infrastructure and does not run any large-scale promotional campaigns.