OREANDA-NEWS. September 06, 2012. Secretary General of the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) Taleb Rifai and Culture & Tourism Minister Abulfaz Garayev will hold talks on cooperation today.

Mr. Rifai informs that the meeting will identify new areas of cooperation.

"Due to the location of Azerbaijan in route "Silk Road” the UNWTO has decided to strengthen promotion of tourism potential of Azerbaijan for better results," Mr. Rifai said.

UNWTO-sponsored two-day international conference "Taste of Silk Road: gastronomy, culture & tourism" has started in Baku today.

"By its annual income tourism sector ranks the third place in the world economy, and 30% of tourists’ costs fall on gastronomy," Mr. Rifai said.

UNWTO expects that this year the number of tourists in the world will reach 1 billion, and by 2030 will exceed 1.8 billion.