Baku, Azerbaijan, March 16
By Fikret Dolukhanov – Trend:
Some 4 million tourists are expected to visit Uzbekistan in 2018, Uzbek media reported on March 16 citing data of the Uzbek State Committee on Development of Tourism.
According to Deputy Chairman of the State Committee Shakhrukh Sharakhmetov, a number of tourists visiting Uzbekistan is constantly growing and in January-February 2018 it increased by 65 percent compared to the same period of 2017.
“The tourist flow is growing by roughly 30 percent a year. About 3 million tourists visited the country in 2017, which is 30 percent more than in 2016. More than 2 million of them are tourists from neighboring countries, 120,000 are from Russia. If the growth is sustainable, we can expect 4 million tourists in 2018. Only in the first two months of 2018, number of tourists increased by 65 percent compared to the same months of 2016,” Sharakhmetov said addressing a tourism presentation in Uzbek embassy in Moscow.
He also noted that an average tourist stays for about three days in the country.
Earlier, Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev instructed to simplify the procedure for registration of foreign tourists.
The president gave instructions on the transfer of the registration system to electronic format. Since July 1, electronic visas should be introduced in Uzbekistan.
More than 100 hotels with total of 1355 rooms were opened in Uzbekistan in 2017. About 130 entrepreneurs acquired licenses on tourism activity.
