Tehran – April 8, 2025
The 6th Meeting of the ECO Working Group on Tourism Standardization (WGTS) was held virtually on 8 April 2025, bringing together representatives from tourism authorities of the ECO Member States to finalize the ECO Sustainable Tourism Common Criteria for Accommodation Facilities. The meeting placed particular focus on the implementation procedures of the document, including the receipt of applications, certification processes and the monitoring of certified entities.
The session was attended by officials from Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Türkiye and Uzbekistan. Key discussions included the scope of the criteria, eligibility requirements for applicants, and evaluation and monitoring procedures for this first-of-its-kind regional tourism standardization initiative under the ECO framework.
The experts emphasized that the standards might should be on voluntary basis and underlined the importance of establishing a reliable verification mechanism on evaluation of the applications for the certificate.
The document is planned to be considered and adopted during the 8th Meeting of the High-Level Expert Group on Tourism, to be held prior to the 6th ECO Ministerial Meeting on Tourism on 25 April 2025 in Erzurum, Türkiye.
