Kazakh people ranked second in the list of foreign tourists who visited Uzbekistan in March 2022, Tengritravel writes. These statistics were reported by the Ministry of Tourism and Cultural Heritage of the Republic of Uzbekistan.

Top three foreign tourists 

According to the department, the most frequent nationalities among foreign visitors to Uzbekistan who stayed in various accommodations last month were the citizens of Russia - 23.4%, Kazakhstan - 18.9%, and Tajikistan - 14.4%. Other nationalities include Turkey - 7.7%, Kyrgyzstan - 6.3%, Belarus - 4.6%, China - 3.2%, and France - 1.7%.

Before the pandemic

During the pre-pandemic period in March 2019, 84,800 foreign nationals stayed in hotels and inns in Uzbekistan. Citizens of Kazakhstan were also in the top three with 15 percent of the total number of tourists. Citizens of Russia accounted for 16.8 percent and citizens of Tajikistan for 6.3 percent. 

In March of 2022, Tengritravel reported that Uzbekistan was open to receiving foreign tourists from March 16. That included the removal of all restrictions on the free passage of citizens of Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan through all land border crossing points on the Uzbek side.

In addition, visitors without PCR tests were allowed to enter if they have vaccination passports for coronavirus infection. Unvaccinated against coronavirus had to have the results of a negative PCR test with an electronic QR code taken no more than 72 hours prior, or take rapid tests when crossing the border or upon arrival on the territory of the Republic of Uzbekistan.