Publication Details
Abstract
This study examines the structural dynamics, economic effects and operational constraints of digital transformation in the tourism service sector of Uzbekistan. Following comprehensive market liberalisation and the adoption of the Digital Uzbekistan 2030 strategy, inbound arrivals reached 11.7 million in 2025 and tourism service export receipts reached USD 4.8 billion. The paper applies a mixed quantitative design comprising a purpose-built Digital Adoption Index (DAI), a microeconomic capital-budgeting model of a representative regional accommodation enterprise, an extended Cobb-Douglas production function for aggregate export receipts, and a SWOT-AHP diagnostic matrix. Data are drawn from the Statistics Agency under the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan, the Central Bank of the Republic of Uzbekistan, and a structured survey of 120 licensed tourism operators in Tashkent, Samarkand, Bukhara and Khorezm. Results indicate a national composite DAI of 0.498, masking pronounced asymmetry: air transport (0.836) and state e-governance (0.789) are digitally mature, whereas regional guest houses (0.263) and heritage attractions (0.351) remain weakly integrated. Enterprise-level modelling yields a three-year return on investment of 465 per cent with a 6.4-month payback period for a 35-room boutique hotel adopting a cloud property management system, a direct booking engine and integrated payment acceptance. Macroeconomic estimation indicates that raising the national digital maturity scalar from a baseline 0.55 to 0.78 by 2030 would generate approximately USD 1.37 billion in additional annual export receipts beyond an arrivals-driven baseline. Four systemic frictions are identified: cross-border payment fragmentation, connectivity asymmetry in secondary destinations, institutional data silos, and managerial digital literacy deficits. A three-pillar policy framework is proposed.