More than 363,000 foreign tourists have visited Tajikistan over the first six months of this year, which is 2.9 times more compared to the same period last year, according to the Agency for Statistics under the President of Tajikistan.
More than 95 percent of tourists, who visited Tajikistan in January-June this year, are citizens of the CIS member nations, primarily Uzbekistan.
According to official data, tourist flows to the country over the past two years decreased almost 4.4 times due to international coronavirus-related restrictions: from about 1.3 million people in 2019 to 296,000 people in 2021.
The Tourism Development Agency top manager told reporters in Dushanbe on February 12 last year that 350,600 tourist visited Tajikistan in 2020 (72.2-percent decrease compared to 2019).
Meanwhile, about 469,000 foreign nationals have visited Tajikistan over the first six months of this year with different purposes (business trip, rest and so on), which is 2.1 times more than in the same period last year.
The majority of them are citizens of Uzbekistan –319,000 people; Russia — 112,000; Kazakhstan – 9,700; the United States – 2,900; Turkey — 2,700 citizens; China — 2,000; Kyrgyzstan — 1,900; Iran — 1,800; Afghanistan — 1,500; and etc.
240 tour operators now operate in Tajikistan, which is 19 companies more compared to January-June 2021.
It is to be noted that the tourism industry is an economic sector among those most severely affected by the coronavirus pandemic.
Tajikistan’s rich cultural heritage, hospitality and abundance of mountain snow peaks, rivers, lakes and recreational opportunities contribute to the development of country’s tourism industry. In 2018, Tajik Government announced a year of tourism development. The tourism sector is considered a priority for the development of Tajikistan’s economy. At the same time, undeveloped infrastructure and low levels of quality of services delay the growth of the tourism industry.
