The Uzbekistan 2030 Strategy identifies priority areas for increasing the number of tourists by creating broad conditions for developing external and internal tourism.

The number of foreign tourists is planned to increase to 15 million, domestic tourists to 25 million, and pilgrimage tourists to 3 million by 2030.

Leading researcher at the Institute of Macroeconomic and Regional Studies Nurbek Yakubov said that measures will be taken to double the number of guest places, tourist mahallas to 175, exports of tourism services to $5 billion, exports of medical and educational tourism to $1.5 billion annually by attracting private investment.

“Of course, it is necessary to create a solid foundation to ensure the implementation of the tasks defined in the Uzbekistan 2030 Strategy”, says Mr. Yakubov. Our scientists analyzed the main results of the reforms implemented in the country’s tourism sector in 2017-2023”.

What results have been achieved during this time? In 2023, the number of foreign tourists coming to Uzbekistan reached 6.6 million. Over the past six years, the flow of tourists has increased almost 2.5 times. In 2017, there were 2.6 million foreign tourists.

Citizens of 91 countries can visit Uzbekistan without a visa. The development of tourism exports is one of the sources of stable economic growth in Uzbekistan. In 2017, the export of tourism services amounted to $531 million, and in 2023 - 2 billion 143 million dollars. The export of tourism services increased by almost 4.5 times compared to 2017.

The American online guide “Travel Lemming” included Uzbekistan in the list of the 50 best tourist destinations in the world in 2023. Uzbekistan took 9th place. This guide highlights new destinations around the world every year. It is read by more than 6 million tourists.

This all points to the great potential of this sector. The government is paying attention to further expanding the industry’s infrastructure facilities and effectively using domestic tourism opportunities.

Nasiba Ziyodullayeva, UzA