Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- The tourism industry has been identified as a strategic direction for the development of the economy of Uzbekistan, allowing the rapid creation of new jobs and foreign exchange earnings in the country. 

The Government of Uzbekistan pays great attention to the development of tourism, transport communications and the expansion of international relations. In recent years, a number of system documents have been adopted on the expansion of transport communications, the development of air communications, the geography of flights, and the introduction of the "open sky" system according to international standards. At the state level, support was provided for the development of the tourism sector, diversification of new types of tourism, ensuring the recognition and attractiveness of Uzbekistan in the international arena.

Currently, Uzbekistan is fully open for foreign travel from any country in the world. All travel restrictions have been lifted, since March 2022, there have been positive trends in the rapid recovery of the tourism sector in Uzbekistan, as evidenced by the high level of occupancy of various accommodation facilities in the country, including hotels, inns, guest houses, etc.

In connection with the emerging trends in the world to overcome the global pandemic associated with Covid-19, it is expected that in the near future the flow of tourists will increase significantly with a growth rate of at least 30% per year. This requires the implementation of additional international air passenger traffic, the expansion of the geography of flights as a national air carrier, and the involvement of foreign airlines, especially low-cost directions of transportation.

Marketing research of the foreign tourism market indicates that the post-pandemic period is expected to have a large demand for the opening of new flights.

The following air routes are relevant for Uzbekistan:

Russian Federation: Moscow, St. Petersburg, Irkutsk, Novosibirsk, Ufa, Krasnoyarsk, Tyumen, Yekaterinburg, Samara, Kazan, Mineralnye Vody, Rostov-on-Don, Krasnodar, Sochi, Voronezh, Vladivostok and other traditional cities of Russia, to which regular flights during the pre-pandemic period.

However, at present there is a huge potential for tourist flows from the cities: Orenburg, Volgograd, Khabarovsk, Kemerovo, Nizhnevartovsk, Murmansk, Nizhny Novgorod, Surgut, Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, Omsk, Barnaul.

The above directions require accelerated implementation in the face of high demand for travel to Central Asia and in particular Uzbekistan as a new and interesting historical and educational tourism destination for Russian travelers.

Traditional non-CIS markets are also recovering and the demand for travel to Uzbekistan is increasing. 

Therefore, along with existing flights, it is important to restore or provide new flights to the following destinations: Athens (Greece), Warsaw (Poland), Prague (Czech Republic), Amsterdam (Netherlands), Madrid (Spain), Doha (Qatar), Cairo (Egypt) , Abu Dhabi (UAE), Tehran (Iran), Muscat (Oman), Guangzhou, Shanghai (PRC), Nagoya, Osaka (Japan), Kyiv (Ukraine), Karaganda (Kazakhstan).

Due to the fact that in recent years many regional airports of Uzbekistan have been involved in international air travel, it is necessary to significantly increase the opportunities from the cities of Uzbekistan:

- Airport "Andijan" - Moscow, St. Petersburg, Surgut, Novosibirsk, Vladivostok, Istanbul (Turkey).

- Ferghana - Istanbul (Turkey), Dubai (UAE), Almaty (Kazakhstan), Seoul (South Korea), Vladivostok (RF), Bishkek (Kyrgyzstan), Delhi (India).

- Namangan - Krasnodar, Kaliningrad, Irkutsk, Krasnoyarsk (RF), Seoul (South Korea).

- Samarkand - Dubai (UAE), Seoul (South Korea), Tokyo (Japan), Almaty (Kazakhstan), Guangzhou, Beijing, Xi’an (PRC), Jakarta (Indonesia), Dhaka (Bangladesh).

- Bukhara - Moscow, Vladivostok (RF), Tel Aviv (Israel), Istanbul (Turkey), Medina, Jeddah (KSA), Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia), Jakarta (Indonesia), Almaty (Kazakhstan).

- Karshi - Krasnodar, Irkutsk (RF), Istanbul (Turkey), Dubai (UAE).

- Termez - Istanbul (Turkey), Dubai (UAE), Krasnodar, Novosibirsk (RF), Delhi (India).

- Urgench - Moscow (RF), Istanbul (Turkey), Dubai (UAE), Urumqi (PRC).

- Navoi - Istanbul (Turkey), Novosibirsk (RF) and cargo transportation to Dhaka (Bangladesh), Hong Kong, Guangzhou, Shanghai, Tianjin (PRC).

- Nukus - Moscow, St. Petersburg (RF), Aktau, Almaty, Atyrau, Shymkent (Kazakhstan).

The Ministry of Transport, the Ministry of Tourism and Cultural Heritage, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, representatives of the tourism business, in this regard, should work intensively to ensure the full load of each side, with a gradual increase in the number and optimization of the flight schedule between countries.

It should be noted that the average cost of tourists from the CIS countries, in particular Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Armenia, is about US$635 per trip. Tourists from Kazakhstan spend about – US$158.3, Turkmenistan - US$104.6, Kyrgyzstan - US$99.3, Tajikistan - US$60.4 per trip, which is associated with a relatively short stay and travel in Uzbekistan from these countries.

Calculations by the Ministry of Tourism and Cultural Heritage show that foreign tourists spend an average of about US$709.4 per trip. At the same time, surveys of tourists arriving from the CIS countries showed that the vast majority of tourist trips are carried out by air compared to railway and road transport.

In connection with the foregoing, expanding the geography of air flights by the national air carrier and attracting foreign low-cost airlines, ensuring the availability of air tickets, reducing the cost of ground handling, will ensure the speedy restoration of the tourism sector in Uzbekistan and the growth of tourists up to 6.7 million.