Uzbekistan is one of the main tourist gems of Central Asia. The rich architecture and ancient original culture has always attracted many tourists from all over the world. According to the UN World Tourism Organization, our country is currently among the five countries with the most dynamically developing tourism industry.
According to the Statistics Committee of the Republic of Uzbekistan in January-September 2022 3.6 million foreign citizens visited Uzbekistan for tourist purposes.
This indicator increased by 2.5 million people, or 3.2 times, compared to the this period last year.
Most of all, citizens of Kazakhstan visited Uzbekistan for tourist purposes – 1076.2 thousand people, Kyrgyzstan 952.1 thousand people. From far abroad, Turkish citizens are in the first place – 53.3 thousand people. The rating is completed by citizens of Italy – 5,9 thousand people and Spain – 4,3 thousand people .
In addition, the number of domestic travelers has also increased 3.5 times compared to 2021 to 7.5 million people.
Modernization of the tourism sector in the post-pandemic period is taking place within the framework of the project “Concepts of tourism development in Uzbekistan for 2019-2025”. The program provides for an increase in the share of the tourism industry in Uzbekistan’s GDP to 5% of the volume of tourism exports – up to $ 2.1 billion, an increase in the number of tourists – up to 10 million, of which 3 million are citizens of non-CIS countries.
In this vein, a program of subsidizing the construction of hotels was developed, which started back in 2019 and was designed to be implemented until 2022. According to the project, the state covers the costs of construction of accommodation facilities in the amount of 40 million soums ($4.6 thousand) for one room for three-star hotels and 65 million soums ($7.6 thousand) for a room in the “four stars”.
Also, within the framework of the “Concept of Tourism development in Uzbekistan for 2019-2025”, the procedure for issuing licenses for the operation of accommodation facilities in the country was simplified. As a result, Uzbekistan has increased the number of guest houses and hostels located in rural areas of the republic, ready to receive a record number of tourists during the pandemic. By 2022, it is planned to increase the number of hotels in the country to 2.4 thousand, and the number of rooms – up to 50 thousand.
During the implementation of the project, large hotel complexes were opened in major cities of Uzbekistan: Tashkent, Bukhara and Samarkand, including Marriott and Hempton by Hilton hotels in Tashkent, Hyatt Regency in Bukhara, and many others.
Uzbekistan is considered a rising tourist star even before the pandemic.
In 2021, the country celebrated the 30th anniversary of independence, as well as the opening of a new airport in Samarkand. Also in 2022, the grand opening of the Silk Road Samarkand tourist complex took place in the city of Samarkand.
In 2022, the Government of Uzbekistan approved a number of measures aimed at the development of tourism infrastructure and cultural heritage sites in 2022.
During this year, it is planned to establish engineering and communication networks of tourism facilities, restore, preserve and improve cultural heritage sites, as well as create cultural and entertainment infrastructure.
The State has allocated several subsidies for the development of these projects. Thus, 29.4 billion soums were allocated for the development of tourist services, 117.3 billion soums for the improvement of cultural heritage sites, 43 billion soums for the support of museums, 73.1 billion soums for tourism educational institutions.
In accordance with the “Strategy for the Development of new Uzbekistan for 2022-2026”, the number of local tourists should increase to 12 million, and foreign tourists – to 9 million within the framework of the “Travel across Uzbekistan” program.
It is planned to introduce barrier-free tourism infrastructure in the tourist cities of the country.
Additional tourist zones will be built in Zaamin, Farish, Bakhmal districts and Aidar-Arnasai lake system.
The increase in the volume of tourist services at least tenfold in the next five years will be carried out by transforming Samarkand into a “Gateway of tourism”.
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