WTTC report ranks Uzbekistan first in Central Asia for tourism growth
2026-08-05 11:50:00 / News
For reference, WTTC conducts its annual research by dividing the world into 13 major regions. Based on the 2025 results, Central Asia ranked first globally across several key tourism performance indicators. Uzbekistan emerged as the regional leader, recording the strongest performance among the Central Asian countries across all of these indicators.
According to the report, the total contribution of travel and tourism to Central Asia's gross domestic product (GDP) increased by 17.7% in 2025, while the sector's direct contribution to GDP grew by 19.6%. Visitor exports reached US$9.9 billion, representing a 26.4% increase compared to the previous year. Central Asia ranked first in the world in terms of growth in visitor exports. Nearly half of the region's total visitor exports came from Uzbekistan, which generated US$4.8 billion in tourism exports in 2025.
According to WTTC data for 2025, Uzbekistan was the most popular travel destination for residents of Central Asia. The distribution of the region's main travel flows was as follows:
Uzbekistan — 25%
Kazakhstan — 23%
Kyrgyzstan — 18%
Russia — 16%
Türkiye — 6%
The report notes that Uzbekistan's leading position is driven by its rich historical and cultural heritage and its strong appeal to travellers from across the region. "Overall, these figures confirm the regional nature of tourism: residents of Central Asia travel within their own region more frequently than anywhere else," the report states.
In addition, WTTC highlights the significant potential for creating a unified tourism space across Central Asia. According to the organization's experts, simplifying border procedures, expanding air connectivity and transport infrastructure, developing joint tourism routes, and promoting Central Asia as a single tourism destination will help attract more international visitors from other regions of the world.
According to the report, 64.3% of all tourism spending in Central Asia in 2025 came from international visitors, while 35.7% was generated by domestic tourism within the region. Among international visitor spending, 84.5% was related to leisure travel and 15.5% to business travel.
WTTC forecasts that by 2036, the total contribution of the travel and tourism sector to Central Asia's economy will reach US$29.7 billion.