President Mirziyoyev criticizes high airfares by local airlines

“It would not be an exaggeration to say that Khorezm is a crossroads where our glorious history meets our new reforms. Despite being far from logistics chains and having limited natural resources, we have every reason to call last year the ‘Year of Small and Medium Businesses’ in this region,” said the president.

In 2024, 7,000 new entrepreneurs started businesses in the province, 47 enterprises transitioned from small to medium-sized, and the turnover of more than 10 entrepreneurs exceeded 200 billion UZS. As a result, 290,000 people were employed in the province within a year.

However, despite significant changes, poverty in the province remains around 12%, 45,000 citizens are unemployed, and only one enterprise has a turnover exceeding 1 trillion UZS.

Therefore, it was emphasized that the province’s leadership and the heads of its 13 districts must act with determination and responsibility to turn every opportunity into projects, create new jobs, further enhance the potential of industry, services, tourism, agriculture, and exports, and address issues in the social sector and infrastructure.

It was highlighted that while the tourism export potential in our country is $10 billion, $2 billion of this pertains specifically to Khorezm. However, this potential is not being fully utilized. Last year, only 1.3 million foreign tourists visited, and exports did not even reach $400 million.

Yet, it was noted that the authorities have sufficient opportunities to transform Khorezm into one of the leading tourist centers in the region.

The province is home to a total of 263 cultural heritage sites. Many entrepreneurs are effectively utilizing these to organize tourism services. However, it was pointed out that the heads of Khiva city and the Khiva and Yangiaryk districts are not working to transform 14 high-potential sites into tourist destinations in collaboration with entrepreneurs.

Moreover, many cultural monuments in Khorezm remain unexplored. There is little information about historical sites such as the “Sulaymon Fortress” in Hazorasp, the “Qalajik Fortress” in Bogot, the “Khan Garden” in Yangiaryk, and the “Apple-Shooting Fortress.”

To this end, it was decided that the Khorezm branch of the Uzbekistan Historians’ Society will be funded from the state budget.

Officials were tasked with attracting experienced archaeologists from abroad and initiating practical work to identify and restore historical monuments.

A four-day “Fortress Tour” route connecting eight ancient fortresses in Khorezm and Karakalpakstan will be developed. Service facilities around these fortresses will be launched based on a master plan.

It was emphasized that there is significant potential for developing gastronomic tourism in the province.

The importance of bringing one restaurateur from each province to the “Arda Khiva” complex and establishing two modern “food courts” consisting of several restaurants in the Mevaston and Gazchi neighborhoods of Khiva city was highlighted.

Restaurateurs promoting our national cuisine abroad will be supported.

Officials were instructed to establish a system to cover part of the costs related to registration, permits, and operations for setting up Uzbek restaurants abroad.

Khorezm has developed over 40 handicraft disciplines, and tourists are also interested in the product-making process.

In this regard, a Handicraft Center will be established on 6 hectares of land in the Mevaston neighborhood.

One billion UZS will be allocated annually to train apprentice craftsmen.

It was noted that there is not a single internationally branded hotel in the province.

It was decided to continue subsidizing newly built hotels in Khorezm. By the end of the year, 40 hotels with 2,500 beds are to be launched, with at least two being branded hotels.

Tourists have noted a shortage of swimming pools in the province during hot days. Therefore, part of the costs for building pools at hotels and entertainment venues will also be covered.

There is a growing demand in Khorezm for guides, waiters, salespeople, and service workers who speak Chinese, Arabic, Japanese, and Spanish. Currently, tour guides mainly provide services in English, Russian, and French. Many questions were raised regarding the quality of services provided and the ethics of workers.

Thus, it was emphasized that the Khiva Tourism Technical School must train 100 guides and an equal number of service workers annually in at least five high-demand languages.

The biggest obstacle to the rapid development of tourism in Khorezm is transportation, it was noted.

Flights to Urgench from Russia, Turkey, Italy, Spain, and France have yielded results. However, due to the lack of flights, thousands of tourists from Germany, China, and Arab countries are being lost.

Officials were tasked with proposing direct flights from Frankfurt, Urumqi, Beijing, and Abu Dhabi, and establishing daily flights from Istanbul during the tourist season.

Urgench Airport is being handed over to a private partnership with Incheon Airport in South Korea. The airport will be reconstructed in accordance with national architectural traditions.

Officials were instructed not to wait for the work to begin but to start attracting Korean airlines, sending aircraft and airport service staff to South Korea for training, and establishing training programs based on Korean expertise at Khorezm’s transport and service technical schools starting from the new academic year.

Ninety-five percent of domestic flights are operated by Uzbekistan Airways and Silk Avia. The remaining 14 flights are handled by four local airlines.

The reason is that domestic flights are not attractive, so private companies mainly operate international routes. Due to the lack of competition in the domestic market, tickets for the Tashkent-Urgench route sell out a week in advance and are expensive.

“In this situation, let alone foreign tourists, even local travelers prefer going abroad,” said the President.

In this regard, officials were tasked with attracting private companies to double the number of flights from Tashkent to Urgench.

A decision to subsidize domestic flights for all resident companies was tasked to be developed and submitted.

Additionally, it was instructed to attach extra train carriages on weekends to increase passenger transport by 1.5 times.