At the end of May, the National Statistics Committee of Uzbekistan announcement that the number of tourists to the country in the first four months of 2026 increased by 29 percent compared to the same period last year, with the total number of tourists exceeding 4 million.
The latest figures are part of a broader trend that has transformed Uzbekistan into one of the fastest-growing tourist destinations in Central Asia. Last year, 11.7 million people visit the country, an increase of 46.8 percent, or 3.7 million more, than in 2024.
Even if the statistics indicate that tourists come from more than 200 countries around the world, with the majority coming from Uzbekistan’s immediate neighbors. Kyrgyz citizens account for the largest share, with 3.3 million visits in 2025 alone, followed by visitors from Tajikistan (2.7 million) and Kazakhstan (2.7 million). Even Turkmenistan, one of the least accessible countries in the region, welcomed 370,000 arrivals in 2025.
The scale of growth is particularly striking when examined over a longer period of time. The 11.7 million visitor arrivals to Uzbekistan in 2025 were 333.3 percent more than in 2017 (2.7 million), which represents a 4.3-fold increase compared to the country’s pre-pandemic tourism figures.
The Statistics Committee, a “authorized public body“, describes these visits as “for tourist purposes.” But is this a real tourism boom? Statistics hide many nuances.
The “boom” is politically permitted, but it is socially rooted. Since the change of government in 2016, Tashkent has taken drastic steps to transform Uzbekistan into a premier tourist destination, with a particular focus on historic places such as Samarkand, Bukhara and Khiva. Uzbekistan has liberalized its visa regimeallowing citizens of more than 90 countries can enter without a visa, while nationals of dozens of other states can obtain electronic visas through a simplified online application system.
Under the regime of Shavkat Mirziyoyev, Uzbekistan pursued a regional policy focused on integration. In particular, relationships with Kyrgyzstan And Tajikistan has been normalized, reopened borders And border conflicts have been resolved. Uzbekistan has sought to present the country as a “safe destination”. Tashkent’s tourism policy has gone so far that “tourist police » were introducedresponsible for ensuring the safety of tourists.
These efforts renamed Uzbekistan. It was named country of the year by the Economist in 2019 and appointed the safest country in the world according to the “Safety Perception Index 2023”. This “boom” also fueled the country’s economy. Tourism revenue increase from $1.3 billion in 2019 to $3.5 billion in 2024, providing employment to hundreds of thousands of people locally.
However, politics is not the only reason for the digital “boom”.
After the change of government in 2016, Tashkent’s policies allowed for a renewed flourishing of phenomena that have always been present in the region, but which have been limited due to cross-border conflicts in independent Central Asia, particularly in the densely populated Ferghana Valley: family ties, bazaars, shuttle trade, labor, services, and the region’s integrated geography.
This is why the majority of visitors to Uzbekistan come from Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Kazakhstan – people visit their families and engage in small-scale cross-border trade (commuting and petty trading) where they regularly cross borders or are involved in short-term mobility in search of income. Statistics flatten these differences when everything is labeled “sightseeing.”
Nearly half a million Afghan tourists are also a testament to Uzbekistan’s broader connectivity agenda. By normalize With Kabul, Tashkent does not necessarily expect a significant tourist influx from Afghanistan. But Afghanistan remains at the heart of Uzbekistan’s South Asia strategy, trade corridors, Termez logistics and the trans-Afghan rail vision. The statistics also do not clarify whether the half-million Afghan tourists traveled through Uzbekistan or simply visited the country. AIRITOM Free Economic Zone – International Trade Center in Termez, which allows Afghan citizens visa-free entry for 15 days. The majority of those who visit the center are looking for professional or medical services, not recreation or historical tours.
Regardless of these flattened nuances, this boom gives Uzbekistan leverage. Mobility does not give Tashkent political control, but gives it regional influence. Increased regional mobility with Uzbekistan at the center creates regional dependence on Uzbekistan’s open borders, shared markets, transport routes and infrastructure.
Uzbekistan’s mobility boom is not a conventional tourism success story. This is the commodification of historical connectivity where old social and geographic connections are reactivated through new state-led strategies of infrastructure, commerce, services and connectivity.