In 2022, 1 million 204 thousand foreign tourists from 152 countries and 4 million 247 thousand local tourists visited Samarkand, and in the first three months of this year – 217 thousand and 814 thousand, respectively.

The export of rendered tourist services amounted to $197.6 million. This has been announced at a briefing with the participation of the Deputy Hokim of Samarkand region for tourism Rustam Kobilov.

– Until now, the average duration of stay of foreign tourists in our region was 2.6 days, and their daily expenses – from 65 to 213 dollars, – says R. Kobilov. – This year, due to the increase in the length of stay of tourists in Samarkand by one more day, the export of tourist services has increased by $14 million. 1.5 million foreign tourists will be attracted during the year, and the export of services will reach $250 million. In 2022, tourism was defined as the main driver of 103 mahallas of Samarkand districts and cities, family guest houses were organized in 491 households. More than 5,800 people are employed in this industry. This year, the number of mahallas, the main driver of which will be tourism, will reach 239, and the number of households – 1144. 104 family guest houses, 105 catering outlets will be created, and the number of people employed in the sector will increase to 7189 people.

Two projects of a tourist complex worth 127 billion UZS will be implemented in the mahallas “Vorsin” of Taylak district and “Yangariq” of Samarkand district. A cable car will be put into operation in “Oqsoy” mahalla of Nurabad district, the design cost of which is 120 billion UZS. Four ecotourism bases will be opened in Urgut, Oqdaryo and Kattakurgan districts.

A shopping and entertainment center will also start operating in Samarkand, the project cost of which is 4 trillion 542 billion UZS. In addition, one health center will be built in Kattakurgan and Oqdaryo districts and two in Samarkand district. The total number of accommodation facilities will be increased to 681, the number of places – up to 18,869, tour operators – up to 250, tourist villages – up to 18. Almost 16 thousand jobs will be created. A five-day tourist program has been developed in the region for objects of pilgrimage, business, classic eco-, agro-, gastronomic and shopping tourism, as well as for sights, tourist villages and streets.

The number of weekly flights at Samarkand International Airport will be increased from 55 to 120. This year, Samarkand will again become the center of major international forums and conferences. 25 international events are planned, including the 25th session of the UNWTO General Assembly, the Annual Meeting of the Board of Governors of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the second meeting of the Strategic Dialogue “Gulf Cooperation Council – Central Asia”.

G.Khasanov, UzA