The Need for Greater Diversification of Tourism Products in the Samarkand Region of Uzbekistan

Before the Covid pandemic, Samarkand, Uzbekistan was seen as an emerging, exotic tourist destination. This is because of the growing interest in its historical importance and cultural history which wasstrongly linked with the Great Silk Road. Thisregion wasincluded in a list of UNESCO World Heritage...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Shukhrat Rakhmonov, Ian Patterson
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Istanbul University Press 2021-12-01
Series:Journal of Tourismology
Subjects:
Online Access:https://cdn.istanbul.edu.tr/file/JTA6CLJ8T5/AB6466CA2F2642968330309D2060697E
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1850187957941567488
author Shukhrat Rakhmonov
Ian Patterson
author_facet Shukhrat Rakhmonov
Ian Patterson
author_sort Shukhrat Rakhmonov
collection DOAJ
description Before the Covid pandemic, Samarkand, Uzbekistan was seen as an emerging, exotic tourist destination. This is because of the growing interest in its historical importance and cultural history which wasstrongly linked with the Great Silk Road. Thisregion wasincluded in a list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites under the name of “Samarkand-Crossroads of Cultures”, and was attracting more foreign tourists each year because of its rich history, magnificent architecture, authentic culture and Islamic buildings. However, with the advent ofthe Covid pandemic,the tourism industry collapsed because its borders were closed to international tourists for a large part of 2020. Only recently, new measures have been implemented to attract international tourists and to make the Samarkand region the tourism hub of Uzbekistan once again. This study used a qualitative research design that involved interviewing 10 tourist operators to determine their opinions about the need for greater diversification of new tourism destinations, assessing their potential and determining the need for the further expansion of tourism development. As a result, several new niche tourism markets were identified that should be developed in order to appeal to different special interest segments of international and domestic tourists.
format Article
id doaj-art-444dd7bbd843419b965b0150a48a2fbb
institution OA Journals
issn 2459-1939
language English
publishDate 2021-12-01
publisher Istanbul University Press
record_format Article
series Journal of Tourismology
spelling doaj-art-444dd7bbd843419b965b0150a48a2fbb2025-08-20T02:15:59ZengIstanbul University PressJournal of Tourismology2459-19392021-12-017224126410.26650/jot.2021.7.2.1007707123456The Need for Greater Diversification of Tourism Products in the Samarkand Region of UzbekistanShukhrat Rakhmonov0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0726-3095Ian Patterson1https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9277-8164Silk Road International University of Tourism, Samarkand, UzbekistanSilk Road International University of Tourism, Samarkand, UzbekistanBefore the Covid pandemic, Samarkand, Uzbekistan was seen as an emerging, exotic tourist destination. This is because of the growing interest in its historical importance and cultural history which wasstrongly linked with the Great Silk Road. Thisregion wasincluded in a list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites under the name of “Samarkand-Crossroads of Cultures”, and was attracting more foreign tourists each year because of its rich history, magnificent architecture, authentic culture and Islamic buildings. However, with the advent ofthe Covid pandemic,the tourism industry collapsed because its borders were closed to international tourists for a large part of 2020. Only recently, new measures have been implemented to attract international tourists and to make the Samarkand region the tourism hub of Uzbekistan once again. This study used a qualitative research design that involved interviewing 10 tourist operators to determine their opinions about the need for greater diversification of new tourism destinations, assessing their potential and determining the need for the further expansion of tourism development. As a result, several new niche tourism markets were identified that should be developed in order to appeal to different special interest segments of international and domestic tourists.https://cdn.istanbul.edu.tr/file/JTA6CLJ8T5/AB6466CA2F2642968330309D2060697Etourism potentialtourist destinationtourism product diversificationniche tourismspecial interest tourists; samarkand uzbekistan
spellingShingle Shukhrat Rakhmonov
Ian Patterson
The Need for Greater Diversification of Tourism Products in the Samarkand Region of Uzbekistan
Journal of Tourismology
tourism potential
tourist destination
tourism product diversification
niche tourism
special interest tourists; samarkand uzbekistan
title The Need for Greater Diversification of Tourism Products in the Samarkand Region of Uzbekistan
title_full The Need for Greater Diversification of Tourism Products in the Samarkand Region of Uzbekistan
title_fullStr The Need for Greater Diversification of Tourism Products in the Samarkand Region of Uzbekistan
title_full_unstemmed The Need for Greater Diversification of Tourism Products in the Samarkand Region of Uzbekistan
title_short The Need for Greater Diversification of Tourism Products in the Samarkand Region of Uzbekistan
title_sort need for greater diversification of tourism products in the samarkand region of uzbekistan
topic tourism potential
tourist destination
tourism product diversification
niche tourism
special interest tourists; samarkand uzbekistan
url https://cdn.istanbul.edu.tr/file/JTA6CLJ8T5/AB6466CA2F2642968330309D2060697E
work_keys_str_mv AT shukhratrakhmonov theneedforgreaterdiversificationoftourismproductsinthesamarkandregionofuzbekistan
AT ianpatterson theneedforgreaterdiversificationoftourismproductsinthesamarkandregionofuzbekistan
AT shukhratrakhmonov needforgreaterdiversificationoftourismproductsinthesamarkandregionofuzbekistan
AT ianpatterson needforgreaterdiversificationoftourismproductsinthesamarkandregionofuzbekistan