Silk Road Samarkand – a resort in the center of Asia – Style – Kommersant

In August, the opening of the world-class Silk Road Samarkand resort took place in Samarkand. The General Director of the Silk Road Samarkand Management Company Artem Egikyan talks about what the resort offers tourists and what the Eternal City is with its unique atmosphere.

— Your project impresses with its scope. How was the idea to create a luxury hotel complex with a medical cluster in Uzbekistan born and why was Samarkand chosen for this purpose?

– The idea of ​​the project arose in 2019, when the President of the country signed a decree “On measures for the further development of the tourism sector.” Why Samarkand? Everything is simple. Samarkand is the second largest and one of the most popular cities in the country among tourists. However, the meager hotel base and insufficient level of service prevented the rapid growth of the tourist flow. I am sure that the opening of the complex will become an engine for the development of both the city and the country as a whole. It is important that in March 2022 an international terminal was opened at Samarkand Airport and it became much easier for tourists to get here. Previously, travelers flew to Tashkent, stopped in Samarkand for one day and left back to Tashkent. It was not easy to get there, and there were no comfortable conditions for an overnight stay.

– You are talking about the growth of the tourist flow. What figures were there before and what level do you expect to reach thanks to the launch of the resort?

– According to statistics, in 2019, about 3.5 million foreign tourists visited Uzbekistan. Of these, about 600 thousand visited Samarkand, most of whom came here on a one-day visit. I have already mentioned the reasons for this. The new hotel complex, which we open for tourists in September, will bring the tourist flow to Samarkand to 1.2 million tourists a year and increase the average duration of their stay in the city to three to five days. The name of the Silk Road Samarkand resort was not chosen by chance: on the territory of modern Uzbekistan from the 2nd century BC. e. and up to the 15th century, the routes of the Great Silk Road passed, on which ancient Samarkand was one of the important stops for trade caravans. Our resort includes eight hotels at once. Two of them are five-star: Samarkand Regency Amir Temur (the only member of The Leading Hotels of the World in Central Asia) and Silk Road by Minyoun. I am proud to be involved in the creation of the Samarkand Regency brand. There are also two four-star hotels – Savitsky Plaza and Lia by Minyoun Stars of Ulugbek. Plus, four more hotels are boutique hotels of the Wellness Park Hotels sanatorium and resort area. The total fund of hotels will be about 1.2 thousand rooms of various categories.

— What is the share of Russians among tourists visiting your city?

— According to 2019 data, the share of Russian tourists was at the level of 40-43%. In March this year, the Russians accounted for approximately 23% of the tourist flow. And this is a fairly good indicator, because a year earlier it was at the level of 14.5%. Now tourism in Uzbekistan is developing rapidly, including in the business segment. The Russians, who used to fly to Europe en masse, turned their attention to Uzbekistan. We did our best to make our guests interesting, and they stayed not for one or two days, but much longer – for five to seven days at least. For example, people can come to us to improve their health: adjust their weight or undergo post-COVID rehabilitation.

Restoration of health is an extremely relevant topic now. Tell us more about it.

— We have four boutique hotels of the sanatorium and resort direction, which represent the medical cluster of the resort and will operate under the Wellness Park Hotels brand. Each of them has its own medical specialization. The first is responsible for the preventive direction, the so-called preventive medicine. The second hotel is given over to detox programs. In the third, doctors and specialists will engage in restorative medicine using a variety of anti-aging programs. The fourth is “respiratory” medicine. Of course, general health procedures will also be available in all complexes: massage and cosmetology, therapeutic showers and mud therapy, a pressure chamber and an infrared sauna, etc. In any case, a stay in these hotels begins with a full medical check-up by specialist doctors. The doctor receives a complete picture of the guest’s health and, taking into account his complaints, prescribes a detailed treatment. It is clear that the minimum stay cannot be less than five days, so that a person can feel the results of treatment. If we talk about detox programs, then their optimal duration is a week.

– But it’s impossible to go to medical procedures and massages all the time? Guests also need to have fun.

– Absolutely agree. To make our guests not bored, the resort has an artificial lake where you can go fishing, there is a separate cottage village (eco-village), in which each of the cottages has everything you need to relax with friends and family: a private pool, a separate sauna , fireplace Hall. Near the entrance to the territory of the resort there is a 60 m high fountain with a musical program and an interactive zone around it. We are currently selecting a repertoire that will include compositions from Russian, local and European pop music. In addition, gastronomic tourism is very relevant now, therefore, when opening hotels, we carefully worked out the concepts of restaurants that will work in them.

– We got acquainted with a very colorful historical and ethnographic park “Eternal City”. Can you tell us more about it?

– The “Eternal City” is unique in its concept, because all the traditional crafts of Uzbekistan will be collected on its territory. Here guests can touch the history of the country and get acquainted with its heritage. You can admire skillful woodcarving, rice paper making, jewelry and even carpets. And, of course, you can try the real Uzbek pilaf (listed by UNESCO as an intangible heritage) and other local dishes. Guests will be offered national teas, tasting of local wines and cognac, restaurants with national cuisine.

— Are there restaurants of a high gastronomic level within the hotels of the resort?

– Of course. For example, Samarkand Regency Amir Temur has an excellent meat restaurant. At the Savitsky Plaza hotel, we will launch a Czech-German restaurant with its own brewery, which will produce three types of beer. The Silk Road by Minyoun hotel has a Chinese restaurant, etc. By the way, if a guest buys a full board tour package (there is such a concept among hoteliers), that is, accommodation and three meals a day, then he will be able to eat not only in the restaurant of his hotel, but with a voucher go to another resort hotel and try the cuisine there. Moreover, the guest can close his checks in other restaurants (for example, in the “Eternal City”) on the number of his room. Leaving a deposit upon check-in, the guest gets access to the mini-bar, can eat at any of the restaurants (if he does not have a full board) and cover all expenses for the room number. It is very comfortable.

— The implementation of such a large-scale project in just three years must have required a lot of effort. What was the most difficult in terms of project management?

— It was difficult that there was not enough time during the entire construction period! An international team has been assembled to manage the complex, which includes representatives from Russia, Italy, Germany, Great Britain, China and other countries. The basic backbone is a team of hoteliers from Russia with experience in large international projects. They also attracted specialists from Uzbekistan to the team. With a 100% occupancy of the hotel, we will need from 1.7 thousand to 2 thousand employees, 10% of which will be expats from Russia, England, China, Kazakhstan. And the remaining 90% are local residents from various regions of the country. In this regard, we are working with the Silk Road International Tourism University located in Samarkand. We have already selected about 400 candidates there to work at the resort. To date, the team has over 700 people, almost all of them are on training. And it will continue for about six weeks.

“Five-star hotels, especially those that are members of The Leading Hotels of the World, offer the highest level of service and attitude towards guests…

“Of course, we are working hard on it. We will do everything to make guests feel as comfortable as possible, feel cared for and completely safe. And, of course, we have an individual approach to each guest, which is why all the staff undergo such thorough training. It is important that any employee, regardless of their position, be able to answer any question of interest: how to get to a particular object, what are the opening hours of the restaurant, etc.

When will the resort be open to full capacity?

— We started accepting the first bookings at the beginning of August. A full-fledged launch of the project took place in mid-August. I am sure that guests will enjoy their stay with us, because it will be rich and varied. Feelings during the day are radically different from spending time in the evening, when the lights are lit and the “Eternal City” wakes up. You have to see and feel it – the atmosphere is absolutely unique. Anyone who comes here at least once will definitely return, and this is the most important thing. When people return, this is the unconditional success of the project. It is important for us that guests return to Silk Road Samarkand again and again.