On July 18, President Shavkat Mirziyoyev signed the new edition of the Tourism Bill into Law. The bill was passed by the Legislative Chamber on April 16 and was approved by the Senate on June 21. The previous edition of 1999 consisted of 22 articles. The new law includes 45 articles.
New definitions have been inserted into the law, such as “instructor-guide”, “independent tourism”, forms and types of tourism have been designated.
The document defines the main areas of the national policies in the field of tourism. Among them is the setting the tourism as the strategic sector of the economy, faciltating the development of domestic tourism, attracting investments, enhancing Uzbekistan’s image as a country attractive for tourism, and stimulating the development of tourist zones and tourist clusters.
The law approved the formation of the Coordination Council for the development of tourism to "improve the interaction of state bodies, NGOs, subjects of the tourism industry in creating favorable conditions for the sustainable development of tourism."
According to the document, tour operators and travel agents carry out tourist activities on the basis of a license issued by an authorized state agency. For the self-employed who provide excursion services, a license is not required.
The law shall take effect three months from the date of publication.
