Baku, Azerbaijan, Dec. 9
By Nigar Guliyeva – Trend:
Uzbekistan's Cabinet of Ministers approved a decree "On making amendments and additions to certain decisions of the government of the Republic of Uzbekistan", and thus lifted restrictions on eco-tourism and auto-tourism.
The State Committee for Tourism reported that the approved changes stipulate the following:
- the consular bureau of the Foreign Ministry of Uzbekistan was granted the right to make appropriate changes to tourist visas at checkpoints on the state border of Uzbekistan in case foreign citizen arrive in the republic before the time specified in the tourist visa.
Also the electronic lists of tourists provided by tour operators and specifying the passport data, schemes of traffic routes, places of stops (overnights) during trips are equaled to the temporary registration:
- in case the tour organized by the tour operator outside the settlements does not exceed 10 days and is accompanied by guides/instructors;
- in case the foreigner purchased an auto-tour and travels on a private car, motorcycle, bicycle, on foot or in a group bus.
Currently, Uzbekistan is carrying out a large-scale campaign to attract foreign tourists. In October, Uzbekistan reduced the time for issuing visas for tourists from Turkey to three working days. Turkish citizens were allowed to get 30-day visas without presentation of tourist vouchers and invitations from Uzbek organizations.
Earlier, the same simplified procedure was introduced for citizens of Austria, Belgium, Great Britain, Germany, Spain, Italy, Latvia, Malaysia, France, Switzerland and Japan. From January 1, 2018, Poland will be included in this list.
The number of visas issued to foreign tourists to visit Uzbekistan in the first half of 2017 increased by 12 percent compared to the same period in 2016, to 51,179.