Uzbekistan seeks tourism investment after arrivals rise 37%

Uzbekistan is using subsidies, looser entry rules and transport upgrades to turn a 37% first-quarter rise in foreign arrivals into investment, Euronews reported on Oct. 20.

The Euronews report said Uzbekistan received 11.7 million international visitors in 2025, citing the National Statistics Committee. Foreign visitors topped 7.7 million in the first seven months of 2026, equal to about two-thirds of the full-year 2025 record, according to Atlas360 calculations.

The tourism drive links airports, railways and visa policy as officials seek higher earnings from foreign travellers. Tourism services exports, revenue from services sold to international visitors, reached nearly €3.5 billion in the first seven months of 2026, the Tourism Committee told Euronews.

Under measures announced for the 2026 Open Tourism Season, qualifying airlines starting new routes were offered €89 for each foreign tourist carried into Uzbekistan, along with a 20% reduction in airport-service charges. Tour operators could receive as much as €4,460 for every 1,000 international visitors from eligible overseas markets, Euronews reported.

The incentive programme also covers selected charter flights and some tourism start-ups. Accommodation capacity expanded by more than 22,000 beds across Uzbekistan in the first seven months of 2026, according to the report.

The tourism push forms part of a broader effort to present Uzbekistan as more accessible to foreign business and travellers. Atlas360 reported on Oct. 14 that the country is amending data-localisation rules to attract global technology and financial-services providers, another strand of its investment-opening agenda.

Transport is central to the tourism strategy. Samarkand International Airport handled 1.5 million passengers in 2025, about 10% more than a year earlier, while 24 airlines served 30 destinations, Euronews reported.

Dmitry Martynenko, the airport’s commercial director, said traffic had tripled since 2022, helped by a new terminal, an open-skies policy and airline recruitment. “We are now actively developing flights to China. We are also working on opening routes to Southeast Asia,” Martynenko told Euronews.

Rail upgrades are intended to make more destinations easier to reach. The Jaloliddin Manguberdi train has cut the Tashkent-Khiva journey to seven and a half hours from 14 hours, while Atlas360 reported in September that high-speed rail now links historical hubs including Bukhara and Samarkand.

“Today, we are providing high-speed rail services to more than ten cities in Uzbekistan, and we plan to expand this network year by year,” Hikmatulla Rahmetov, first deputy chairman of Uzbekistan Railways, told Euronews. He said a dedicated high-speed passenger line between Tashkent and Samarkand is planned for trains running at up to 300 km/h.

Uzbekistan has also eased border rules. Citizens of more than 90 countries can enter without a visa for varying periods, while electronic visas are available to eligible travellers from other markets, Euronews reported.

China is one target market. Oybek Hakimov, adviser to the chairman of the Tourism Committee on strategic planning and information analysis, said a reciprocal 30-day visa-free regime with China coincided with rapid growth in arrivals. “By the end of 2025, the number of tourists from China had increased more than sixfold compared with 2023,” Hakimov said.

Authorities are promoting Uzbekistan through exhibitions, roadshows and digital platforms including Expedia and Trip.com, Euronews reported. More than 50 tourism villages and neighbourhoods have been developed as officials try to diversify travel beyond established Silk Road destinations.