Uzbekistan emerges as top luxury destination

One of the prominent figures in travel, tourism and hospitality industry, Roula Jouny heads a global conglomerate, Rocket International, as the Chief Executive Officer. This visionary leader with over 30 years of experience speaks to TRAVTALK about her new venture, as the Destination Management Company plans to spread business in four more countries.

TT Bureau

Rocket International, a Destination Management Company (DMC) with presence in six countries, plans further expansion. Elaborating on the company’s expansion plans, Roula Jouny, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Rocket International, said, “We are currently present in six countries, namely Turkey, Egypt, Tunisia, Spain, Uzbekistan and UAE. At the end of this year, we should be in 10 with the addition of Qatar, Thailand, Greece and Croatia to the list.”

While a regular tour operator’s business has changed over the years, Jouny’s new venture is a different one that provides its customers a seamless experience throughout their journey. One of the most shocking news this year was the closure of FTI, which created a void in the market, but experts like Jouny, committed to bring back that business, continued to work on meeting the requirements of each category and age group.

Their latest addition to the portfolio is Uzbekistan, where they will be promoting the destination in various parts of the world. Bakhtiyor Fazilov, Founder Silkroad Samarkand & Air Samarkand, has been investing on promoting his country and Jouny and her team are working hand-in-hand to ensure that Uzbekistan remains a top-of-mind destination to travellers from the Middle East. Jouny shared, ““He understands that connectivity is key and having a gem of a nation, he wants to share the rich heritage and culture with all travellers and GCC is a market that he is keen to promote to, as it is closer in range and has many similarities which will be enjoyed by travellers. In terms of luxury, he invested in an airport, then in an airline called Air Samarkand, in order to open up the destination to the world. Fazilov, in addition to the airline and the airport, built the largest luxury resort in Central Asia, Silkroad Samarkand consisting of nine hotels, an old city centre and the largest conference centre in Central Asia. He keeps developing it and he is building in the resort this summer the largest man-made beach in the whole of central Asia. When you visit Europe, you do see the rich history and the past culture, but in Uzbekistan, it is a different story, as you basically live that culture, it is as if time has just stood still, or you have just gone back in time. It is magical and amazing at the same time. We want to promote this hidden gem to our valued partners in the Middle East and we are working on some programmes to ensure that there is enough awareness about the destination.”