IMPROVING THE FUNCTIONING OF UZBEKISTAN'S TOURISM MARKET THROUGH THE USE OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGIES: AN ECONOMETRIC AND STRATEGIC ANALYSIS

The digital transformation of the global tourism industry has increased the importance of information and communication technologies (ICT) for competitiveness, service quality, and revenue growth. This study examines the relationship between ICT adoption and the performance of the tourism market in Uzbekistan, focusing on leading tourism enterprises operating in the Fergana, Samarkand, and Tashkent regions. A mixed-methods research design was employed, combining a structured survey of 480 domestic and international tourists and 65 tourism-firm managers, twelve semi-structured interviews with heads of ICT and CRM/ERP departments, five years of monitoring data (2020–2024), SWOT and GAP analyses, panel regression using fixed- and random-effects models with a log–log specification for 2015–2023, and a differencein-differences (DiD) evaluation of a digital-platform pilot in the Samarkand region. The results indicate that electronic payment penetration (elasticity = 0.74), inbound tourist flows (0.62), and internet coverage (0.41) exhibit the strongest estimated relationships with tourism revenue (R² = 0.75–0.78). ICT-adopting firms record, on average, 55% higher revenue and a 26-percentage-point higher repeat-customer rate than non-adopting firms (R² = 0.72, p < 0.05). The DiD estimates associate the Samarkand digital-platform pilot with approximately UZS 850 billion in additional tourism revenue and 620,000 additional visits. Building on these findings and a comparative review of smart-tourism practices in Spain, Singapore, Japan, and the United Arab Emirates, the study proposes a conceptual Smart Uzbekistan Tourism Platform (SUTP) model and a phased digitalisation roadmap with measurable key performance indicators (KPIs). The findings contribute to the smart-tourism literature by providing econometric evidence from Uzbekistan and offer practical guidance for policymakers and tourism-industry practitioners.