The World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) proudly presents the 1st International Western Silk Road Workshop, to be held in Alexandroupoli, Greece on 26-27 April 2017. The workshop is jointly organized by UNWTO, the Ministry of Tourism of Greece and the region of Eastern Macedonia and Thrace of Greece. The International Western Silk Road Workshop in Greece is the first of two workshops to be held as part of the overarching Western Silk Road Tourism Development Initiative, a joint tourism project of UNWTO and the European Union (EU) aimed at revitalising the Silk Road heritage located throughout Europe. By bringing together Silk Road Member States, UNWTO Affiliate Members and tourism stakeholders from the public and private sphere, the workshop will be the first step of a project aimed at achieving following key results:
Diversify the tourism offer of European countries by assessing new tourism products, itineraries and routes with a Silk Road imprint
Create new development and business opportunities by bringing together stakeholders from different sectors and countries
Increase the attractiveness and visitation to European destinations by stimulating a new type of transnational tourism approach

As part of the workshop, a Western Silk Road handbook containing an outline of the potential of the Western Silk Road as a tourism route will be presented. By actively attending, invitees will be able to contribute to the strategic implementation of the project, present their ideas and interests and network with a wide range of stakeholders with similar interests.