WNAM REPORT: Large-scale reforms are being gradually implemented in Uzbekistan to solve problems related to tourism infrastructure, improve the quality of services provided, and actively promote national tourism products in world markets.
Tourism interests in Uzbekistan include active recreation and travel for educational purposes, where the object of knowledge is the country’s rich archaeological and religious history.
The country has a vast tourism and recreational potential, including 7.4 thousand cultural heritage sites.
Uzbekistan also provides a visa-free regime for citizens of at least 86 countries, which significantly simplifies tourist entry. The number of countries whose citizens have a simplified entry visa regime has also increased (from 12 to 50).
According to the Statistics Agency under the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan, in the first seven months of 2024, Uzbekistan received 4.2 million tourists. This figure is 15.3% higher than last year, indicating the country’s growing popularity among travelers worldwide.
Uzbekistan attracts tourists not only from neighboring countries, but also from other parts of the world, and the total number of tourists from different countries amounted to 211.2 thousand people.
In terms of the number of visitors, tourists from Central Asian countries are in the lead: Kyrgyzstan (1.2 million people), Tajikistan (1.2 million people) and Kazakhstan (845.8 thousand people).
They are followed by Russia (442.1 thousand people), Turkmenistan (83.7 thousand people), Türkiye (62 thousand people), China (35.5 thousand people), India (33.3 thousand people), South Korea (23.9 thousand people) and Italy (19.5 thousand people).
In recent years, large tourist complexes have been built in the country, such as Hilton Tashkent City, Hyatt Regency Tashkent, Silk Road Samarkand, Afsonalar Vodiysi, Horezm-Plaza and others.
Uzbekistan plans to increase the number of foreign tourists visiting the country to 9 million people by 2026.
By the end of 2023, there were more than 5,000 hotels and other tourist accommodation facilities in the country. Women entrepreneurs hold a significant share of the management of the tourism industry and hotel business.
