Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- Experts from the Institute for Macroeconomic and Regional Studies (IMRI) studied the state of development of domestic tourism in Uzbekistan: 66.6% of respondents assessed insufficient access to sanitary services.

In order to study the state of domestic tourism in Uzbekistan in March-April 2023, an online survey was conducted among 1032 respondents, including 46.7% women and 53.3% men by gender.

The study used the method of questioning (online public opinion poll), which includes 20 questions.

According to the results of online surveys, the following features of domestic tourism in the country were revealed:

- in terms of the frequency of travel, more than 1/2 of the respondents (58.5%) make domestic trips at least once a year (including 33.5% - once a year, 16.6% - once every 3 months, 8.3% - once a month). At the same time, 32.3% of the respondents expressed their desire to travel and see the sights of the country;

- constraining factors affecting the development of domestic tourism and increasing demand for tourism services are the availability of funds (24.7% of respondents) and lack of free time (27.0%). Moreover, if for men the lack of free time is indicated to a greater extent due to employment in the public service; then for women - public service and child care;

- by age, domestic tourism is most common among the economically active population; the active category of travelers within the country refers to the population of 26-35 years old (33.4% of respondents), 36-55 years old (33.6%). The same age group is noted as the leader among the population wishing to travel (37.5% and 33.9%, respectively);

- Uzbeks prefer to travel mainly with their families (51.5% of respondents), with friends (26.0%), which is due to the mentality of the population and the importance of the family institution in society;

- the most attractive are pilgrimage (53.7% of respondents), mountain resort (52.7%), cultural and educational (36.4%), health tourism (35.8%) and sunny beach (35.4%) . At the same time, among the youth of the population (under 35) there is also a growing interest in extreme, sports, festival tourism, and agritourism.

How does the population assess the infrastructure component of the tourism industry?

1. In tourist trips, the preference of the population to travel within the country on their own, without resorting to the services of tour operators and travel agencies, remains. Thus, 52.6% of the respondents, who made domestic trips at least once a year, indicated that they organize their leisure time on their own during the trip.

2. Information support is becoming an important tool for the development of domestic tourism.

67.7% of respondents who made domestic trips at least once a year indicated recommendations of acquaintances, friends and relatives as information resources when choosing a vacation spot, 50.0% - social networks, 31.0% - special sites.

Assessment of the level of satisfaction of the population in tourist trips around Uzbekistan made it possible to group factors according to the degree of importance of solving the problem:

- Group I of the most relevant factors included the quality of roads, prices for hotel accommodation and transportation, access to water supply and sanitation;

  - Group II with an average level of dissatisfaction included such factors as the availability of tourist maps and information, the location of transport, hygiene and sanitation in places of public catering, access to electricity;

- Group III with a relatively satisfactory opinion of the public includes information about attractions on the Internet, hotel services, searching for hotels and finding places to eat.