Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.uz) — Uzbekistan plans to welcome 20 million foreign tourists annually by 2030, President Shavkat Mirziyoyev said on 27 September in a message congratulating tourism industry workers on World Tourism Day.
The country also aims to increase tourism’s share of GDP to 7%, raise tourism services exports to more than US$8 billion and double the number of high-end hotels, according to the press service of the President of Uzbekistan.
The message highlighted the sector’s development in recent years. Nearly 12 million foreign tourists visited Uzbekistan in 2025, at least six times more than in 2016. Tourism services exports increased 11-fold to US$4.8 billion.
According to Mirziyoyev, the sector is receiving new impetus from an open-door policy, simplified visa procedures, expanded transport and hotel infrastructure, as well as tax and customs incentives for businesses.
The President also noted that, at Uzbekistan’s initiative, the UN General Assembly declared 2027 the International Year of Sustainable and Resilient Tourism. The UN World Tourism Organization has included Uzbekistan among the world’s five fastest-growing tourism destinations.
The address outlined several new infrastructure projects. Khiva is set to receive an international tourist town, a congress centre and a historical and ethnographic park, while Ichan-Kala is planned to become a “smart” museum complex based on digital technologies.
A Silk Road Museum with a collection of unique exhibits will be built in Samarkand. New routes to archaeological sites will open in Karakalpakstan, while the Gilon complex will be developed in Kashkadarya Region’s Shakhrisabz district and the Arashan complex in Namangan Region’s Pap district.
Mirziyoyev said attractions that have become symbols of New Uzbekistan are drawing strong interest from both domestic residents and foreign visitors. These include the Centre of Islamic Civilization, the Imam Bukhari and Burhoniddin Margilani complexes, and the Centre for Contemporary Art.
The sector’s priorities include introducing modern technologies, launching a unified national tourism platform, integrating services into a single tourism system, using artificial intelligence and regularly upgrading the skills of industry professionals.
Particular attention will be given to the accelerated development of higher-value tourism segments, including gastronomic, ecological, pilgrimage, medical, mountain and adventure, business, ethnic and rural tourism.
The President expressed gratitude to tour operators and travel agents, hotel and family guesthouse workers, guides and tour leaders, restaurateurs, transport and service companies, artisans, cultural figures, museum employees and mentors.
He said strengthening the sector’s material and technical base and human resources, as well as providing proper incentives for tourism workers, would remain priorities. Mirziyoyev also proposed establishing the honorary title “Honoured Worker of Tourism of the Republic of Uzbekistan.”
