Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- An English-language version of the popular Omani newspaper Vijkhat published an article on the resumption of domestic tourism in selected regions of Uzbekistan, Dunyo news agency reported.

According to the information of the Embassy of Uzbekistan in Oman, the author of the publication, Yusuf Balushi, says that in the regions of Uzbekistan with “green” and “yellow” quarantine levels, domestic tourism will resume from June 1 of this year. This is envisaged by the decree of the President of Uzbekistan “On urgent measures to support the tourism sector to reduce the negative impact of the coronavirus pandemic”.

From this date, subject to quarantine requirements, tour operators, travel agencies, hotels and cultural objects can begin to work. The same decree stipulates the phased resumption of inbound tourism. At the first stage, it is prescribed to make a list of safe countries that have coped with the coronavirus.

The author further indicates that the affected tourism industry will be provided with a number of benefits. For tour operators, travel agents and hotels from 1 June to 31 December 2020, income tax rates will be reduced by 50%. They will be able to transfer losses following the results of 2020 and 2021 without limiting their sizes provided for by the Tax Code.

The article provides information that Uzbekistan, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, has been closed to tourists since 16 March. “For the time being, 1,500 tour operators and 1,200 hotels stopped their activities in Uzbekistan. In 2019, 6.7 million tourists visited the country, and the contribution to the export potential amounted to over US$1.3 billion,” the publication notes.