MODERN MARKETING APPROACHES TO PROMOTING UZBEKISTAN AS AN INTERNATIONAL TOURISM DESTINATION

Abstract

Over the past decade, the Republic of Uzbekistan has repositioned itself from a peripheral, visa-restricted Central Asian destination into one of the fastest-growing inbound tourism markets in the world. This article examines the modern marketing approaches that have driven this transformation, situating national practice within established destination-marketing theory. Drawing on recent statistical data from the Tourism Committee of the Republic of Uzbekistan, the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UN Tourism), and peer-reviewed research, the article analyses four pillars of contemporary tourism promotion: destination branding and storytelling, digital and social-media marketing, event- and partnership-based promotion, and data-driven personalization supported by artificial intelligence. The study finds that Uzbekistan's growth, from roughly 5.3 million foreign arrivals in 2019 to more than 10.7 million in 2025, corresponds closely with a shift away from traditional advertising toward integrated digital ecosystems, visa liberalization, and experience-based branding centred on the Great Silk Road narrative. The article also identifies structural weaknesses, including uneven regional distribution of tourist flows, limited multilingual digital infrastructure, and a continued dependence on heritage-only imagery, and proposes a set of evidence-based recommendations aligned with international destination-marketing standards, including those of UN Tourism and the World Travel and Tourism Council. The findings are relevant to policymakers, destination management organizations, and researchers examining the marketing of emerging and post-Soviet tourism economies.