Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) - A media event was held in Moscow on the theme “All experts recommend Uzbekistan for travel,” Dunyo reports.

The event was organized by the State Committee of the Republic of Uzbekistan for the Development of Tourism in partnership with the online airline search engine “Aviasales”.

As noted at the event, recently, Russian tourists began to actively lay a route towards the Central Asian part of the Silk Road, namely, to Uzbekistan. Here, they are primarily attracted by the image of an oriental tale, a colorful culture, ancient monuments, as well as the famous national Uzbek cuisine.

According to the statistics of the State Committee for Tourism, the number of Russians who visited our country for 10 months of 2019 increased by 25.2 percent compared to the same period in 2018 and amounted to more than 390 thousand people. The export contribution from the stay of Russian tourists has grown over the same period by more than US$50 million and amounted to US$250 million.

The leading online booking services of Aviasales tickets and Ostrovok.ru hotels also note the growing interest of Russians in our country.

- The Russian market is one of the main and priority areas for promoting the tourism potential of Uzbekistan. The region’s popularity among Russian tourists is growing rapidly, and we are doing everything possible to make our guests come and feel at home,” Feruz Dodiev, deputy head of the Department of International Relations and the State Committee for Tourism of Uzbekistan said.

The experts of the online booking services who took part in the meeting unanimously note the growing interest of Russian tourists in various cities of our country.

According to statistics on the cost of tickets and types of accommodations in Uzbekistan provided by Aviasales and Ostrovok.ru, it is beneficial for Russian tourists to travel to our country. The average cost of a round-trip ticket is about 12.9 thousand Russian rubles, and the average cost of booking a hotel is 13.1 thousand rubles for 3 nights.

Eastern Europe’s largest airline online search engine, Aviasales polled one hundred thousand Russian travelers and found that one in ten would like to go on vacation to Uzbekistan. According to the search engine, the demand for airline tickets in 2019 from Russia to Uzbekistan increased by 35 percent, and the average ticket price check decreased by 8 percent.

The most popular cities of Uzbekistan for travel, according to Aviasales analysis and data on the number of booked hotels from Ostrovok.ru, are Tashkent and Samarkand, followed by Bukhara, Khiva, Karshi.

The flow of passengers from Russia to Bukhara, Namangan and Ferghana doubled, and the average flight cost was 12 thousand rubles, which is 10 percent less compared to 2018.

Russian tourists, having familiarized themselves with the world-famous symbol cities of Uzbekistan Samarkand and Bukhara, switched to other destinations - Karshi and Nukus. In these cities, the number of booked flights has tripled.

- Uzbekistan is becoming a popular tourist destination. Those who have already visited the republic are advised to go here to their friends. Our study also points to the impact of travel shows. Having looked at the adventure of TV presenters in the country, people want to repeat this experience, ” Janis Dzenis, PR Director of Aviasales, said.

Travelers respond positively about accommodation in Uzbekistan: they note quality service, hospitality and affordable accommodation.

According to Ostrovok.ru hotel online booking service, Russian tourists traveling in package tours made almost 80 percent more bookings in Uzbekistan in January-October 2019 than in the same period a year earlier.