THE ROLE OF MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF TOURISM IN UZBEKISTAN

The role of marketing communications grows more critical for tourist promotion and subsequent tourism development in Uzbekistan. Uzbekistan has great tourism potential due to its history, cultural heritage, and geographical location. Yet, tourist awareness of the destination among international and domestic target audiences is complicated by roadblocks in communication. This article explores the role of integrated marketing communications (IMC) in Uzbekistan tourism. The elements of IMC analyzed include tourism advertising campaigns, public relations initiatives, tourism branding efforts, and projects related to marketing tourism and international events. This qualitative research study involves analyzing workshops related to national tourism marketing, publicly accessible tourism branding developments, and interviewing professionals in the field. The findings reveal where the nation succeeds in such marketing communication within the tourism sector as well as gaps. Uzbekistan has established a strong brand. However, there is a lack of sustainable digital content, multilingual resources, and investment in local stakeholder engagement. Improvements are recommended through increased interregional tourism collaboration, collective investment in training for marketing, as well as regional developments in operationalizing international developments of marketing communications for tourism.