Uzbek Ministry talks rapid recovery of country’s tourism

By Trend

Uzbekistan expects up to 4.5 million foreign tourists to visit the country in 2022, Trend reports via the Uzbek Ministry of Tourism and Cultural Heritage.

The total number of domestic tourists in Uzbekistan increased from 8.8 million in 2016 to 14.7 million in 2019 and exceeded 15 million in 2021.

According to the ministry, over the past four years, 833 new hotels have been put into operation in Uzbekistan.

The ministry reports that hotel occupancy in the country was 39.3 percent in 2017, 53.1 percent in 2019, 22.1 percent in 2020, and 36.3 percent last year.

Among the guests who lived in hotels, in addition to local tourists and citizens of the country, Russians made up 23.4 percent, Kazakhs - 18.9 percent, Tajiks - 14.4 percent, Turks - 7.7 percent.

"Currently, Uzbekistan is fully open to foreign tourists. All restrictions have been lifted. There are positive trends in the rapid recovery of tourism in Uzbekistan," the ministry stated.