On May 5-16, 2012, there was a press tour, organised by tourism administrations of the GUAM member states for representatives of Japanese mass media. The event was aimed to raise public awareness in Japan about the tourism potential of GUAM countries and to raise Japanese tourists’ interest in visiting GUAM member states.

The participants visited the main attractions of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Georgia, the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine. During the press tour, meetings took place between representatives of Japanese mass media and heads of the tourism administrations of GUAM member states. In addition to that, on May 15, 2012, a dinner was held for representatives of the Japanese mass media, which also involved the following officials: Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy of the Republic of Moldova, Mr. V. Lazar; Deputy Head of the Minister for Foreign Affairs and European Integration and the GUAM National Coordinator from the Republic of Moldova, Mr. A. Popov; and GUAM Program Coordinator Mr. S. Temirov.

The results of the press tour will be considered at the next meeting of the GUAM Working Group on Tourism.