Ecotourism – an important factor in sustainable development and environmental protection: the experience of Uzbekistan

The aim of the abstract is to formulate favourable conditions and possibilities for development of ecotourism in Uzbekistan. Statistical data on the level of sustainable development of ecotourism in country is given. The authors make a comparative analysis of ecotourism in both the countries which are considered to be the leaders in this sphere, as well as in the emerging countries such as Uzbekistan. The relevance of this study is determined by the need to promote ecotourism as an important factor in sustainable development and environmental protection. In this article the recent status of ecotourism development and analyses of current economic overview in Uzbekistan are highlighted. As a Silk Road destination, Uzbekistan is underlined as one of the major tourist targets for developing and it has undergone many alters over a short historical period in terms of economic, environmental and social changes in ecotourism industry. On that basis, this work demonstrates the overall internal and external economic perspectives of Uzbekistan. This framework is experienced tests by means of a study to demonstrate the strength of the touristic destination of many historical and ecological touristic sites, which reflect the competitive reality of the United Nations World Heritage Tourism destination in Uzbekistan. The results serve to state out major trends and gaps, which focus on further research on this topic globally, and also, they might be useful in diversifying interventions to alleviate the impacts in ecotourism development. As the result of the research, scientific and practically significant recommendations have also been developed.