BAKU, Azerbaijan, Jan. 10
By Klavdiya Romakayeva - Trend:
Specific plans have been developed to attract 1.7 million tourists to Uzbekistan from abroad in 2021, Trend reports with reference to the State Committee for The Development of Tourism of Uzbekistan.
In addition, the committee reported that the export of tourism services is expected to be worth $370 million this year.
Deputy Prime Minister of Uzbekistan, Chairman of the State Committee for Tourism Development Aziz Abdukhakimov at a briefing at the Agency of Information and Mass Communications on January 9 spoke about the indicators of the tourism sector in 2020 and the tasks for 2021.
"As a result of the global crisis caused by coronavirus pandemic, tourism has become one of the most affected industries. In 2020, a total of 1.5 million foreign tourists visited. At the same time, tourist services were provided for $261 million," the Deputy Prime Minister said.
Abdukhakimov also announced statistics on domestic tourism, according to which last year, domestic trips were organized for 1.8 million people, and this year this number is expected to sharply increase to 7.5 million tourists.
Earlier it was reported that the number of tourists who arrived in Uzbekistan from January to September 2020 amounted to 1.35 million, which is 3.6 times less than the same period in 2019 (4.9 million).
"Some 63 percent of accommodation facilities and more than 80 percent of tour operators in the country were forced to suspend their activities, as well as reduce the number of their employees," the committee stressed.
In October 2020, it was also reported that the resumption of tourist flow in Uzbekistan is expected in the spring of 2021.
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