Uzbekistan has many world-famous tourist sites, so tourism is developing as a driver of the country’s economy.

In January-May, two million six hundred tourists visited the country, and the export of tourist services amounted to $833.5 million. This figure has doubled compared to the same period in 2022. Within the framework of the program “Traveling across Uzbekistan”, the number of tourists amounted to eight million.

To increase the flow of foreign tourists and get acquainted with the tourism potential of the country, on May 11-17, a visit of delegation of 80 members of the German Tourism Association (Deutscher Reiseverband, DRV), as well as the Destination forum and B2B meetings were organized.

To promote tourism, an agreement was reached with the BBC (UK), CNN (USA), Euronews (European Union), online streaming platforms Netflix and Amadeus (USA), online travel platform “Trip.com” (China), travel company Holiday Factory and Visa Facilitation Services Global (United Arab Emirates).

Ten million foreign tourists will be attracted to the country this year, and 20 million domestic trips will be organized. As a result, the export of tourism services will amount to $2 billion.

As part of the International Partnership Initiatives Week “New Uzbekistan: Development, Innovation and Enlightenment”, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of the Republic of Uzbekistan and the World Society for the Study, Preservation and Popularization of Cultural Heritage of Uzbekistan organized an International Conference “Cultural Heritage of Uzbekistan – the Foundation of the New Renaissance”.

President of the World Tourism Forum Institute Bulut Bağcı expressed his opinion about the event:

“Uzbekistan, located at the crossroads of the ancient Great Silk Road, is known to the world as a fabulous and mysterious country”, says Bulut Bağcı.

– Trade was conducted here, and cultures, customs, and traditions were enriched, contributing to a unique synthesis of different values and philosophies in modern Uzbekistan. Representatives of different nationalities, religions, and confessions live peacefully and harmoniously. The system for obtaining visas for residents has been simplified. A visa-free system has been introduced for citizens of foreign states during their stay in Uzbekistan. Tourism infrastructure is constantly being improved. This incentivizes further increasing the number of tourist routes to your country, particularly to the ancient cities of Samarkand, Bukhara, and Khiva. The historical monuments of your country, priceless exhibits, and artifacts kept in your museums testify that Uzbekistan was one of the centers of world civilization. The great attention of the government of the country paid to the study, research, preservation, and popularization of the rich heritage of ancestors, including rare examples of applied art, ancient manuscripts, and works, deserves all praise. The proof is that there are international research centers in Uzbekistan, including the Center for Islamic Civilization, the centers of Imam Bukhari, Imam Termizi, and Imam Maturidi. In this direction, we have a lot to learn from Uzbekistan.

By the end of the year, 1.2 million pilgrims from Türkiye, Indonesia, Malaysia, Pakistan, Japan, Israel, India, and the CIS countries will be attracted to pilgrimage tourism.

170 hotels, 72 hostels, 50 thousand jobs, and 492 new family guest houses will be created.

A.Rustamov, UzA