Over the first nine months of this year, more than 1.2 million foreign citizens have visited Tajikistan, which is 19% more than in the same period las year, according to the Agency for Statistics under the President of Tajikistan. In January-September last year, little more than 1 million foreign citizens visited Tajikistan.
The largest flow of foreigners to the country over the same nine-month period has reportedly been observed from Uzbekistan – 746,000 people, Russia – 329,000, Kazakhstan – 285,900, China – 21,600, Afghanistan – 10,400, the United States – 4,300, Iran – 9,200, Turkiye – 6,100, Germany – 5,200, Kyrgyzstan – 4,400, India – 3,700, and other countries – about 52,000.
Of those more than 1.2 million foreigners, 941,300 people have visited Tajikistan over the reporting period as tourists, which 17 percent more than in January-September last year.
Over the same nine-month period, more than 2.6 million Tajikistan nationals have left the country, which is nearly 130,000 people or 5.1 percent more than in the same period last year.
Tourism is considered one of the sectors, which are hoped to promote further development of the national economy. However, tourism receipts-to-GDP ratio remains very low. Due to the coronavirus pandemic this ratio fell in 2019 to 0.3 percent, and in 2021, it rose 1.3 percent.
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.
