Beginning in the 1950's, research on organizations emphasized the importance of understanding the wider macro-economic environment in which organizations operate. An organization on its own cannot affect environmental factors. Conducting a strategic analysis entails scanning the general or macro-economic environment to detect and understand the broad, long term trends.The PEST analysis divided the general environment into the following categories:
1.PoliticalThis relates to the pressures and opportunities brought by changes of the government and public attitudes toward the industry, changes in political institutions and the direction of political processes, legal issues, and the overall regulatory climate. Political factors include government regulations and legal issues and define both formal and informal rules under which the firm must operate. Some examples include: tax policy employment laws environmental regulations trade restrictions and tariffs political stability2.EconomicThis refers to a society's economic structures and such variables as the stock exchange, interest and inflation rates, the nation's economic policies and performance, exchange rates, etc. These variables impact differently on different industries. Economic factors affect the purchasing power of potential customers and the firm's cost of capital. The following are examples of factors in the macro economy: economic growth interest rates exchange rates inflation rate3.SocialThis refers to cultural attitudes, ethical beliefs, shared values, level of differentiation in lifestyle, demographics, education levels, etc. Observing social factors helps organizations maintain their reputation among stakeholders. Social factors include the demographic and cultural aspects of the external macro environment. These factors affect customer needs and the size of potential markets.1.1 Subject of the researchUzbekistan is located in the middle of the Central Asia and borders all the otherCentral Asian republics (Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan),Afghanistan in the south and the Aral Sea in the north-west (see Appendix I: Map ofCentral Asia). In the old days this region has been the part of the exporting traderoute named Silk Road which connected China to Western countries and served asa link between the East and the West exchanging cultures, crafts, ideas, technologies,beliefs and peoples. Since the collapse of the Soviet Union and the proclamation ofthe independence by five Central Asian republics, major efforts have beenundertaken to revive the Silk Road for cultural exchange, trade and tourism.Uzbekistan is a core country of the Silk Road and the revival of tourism has becomea major priority in the destination development. Nowadays the types of tourismexisting in the destination are defined as historical and cultural tourism, religioustourism, business tourism, adventure tours and incentive travel. Uzbekistan is notwell-known in the domain of incentive travels, however, the recent years thereappeared an interest of the European ITOs with Uzbekistan and several incentiveevents have taken place in the destination. Moreover, it should be mentioned thatbusiness tourist arrivals to Uzbekistan increased from 64, 000 in 1998 to 73, 000 in2002 (Source: WTO statistics).1.2 Overall question of the researchThe research question of this paper: Is there a future for Incentive Travels inUzbekistan?111.3 HypothesisThe present research has developed the hypothesis: the development of incentivetravels in Uzbekistan depends on the degree of political stability of the destination,level of economic development, attraction power and perception (image) of thedestination.1.4 Objectives of the researchThe core objective of the research is to investigate the potential of Uzbekistan forfuture development of incentive travels. The specific objectives are as follows:to discuss the Silk Road concept and its importance for future tourismdevelopment in Uzbekistanto introduce the concept of incentive travel, the basic criteria for choosing anincentive destination and current trends in the incentive tourism marketto analyze the macro-environment of the destinationto evaluate principle tourism resources the destination can offer for thedevelopment of incentive travelsto study the perception (image) of the destination he ld by the Europeanincentive intermediaries on the example of British ITOsto identify opportunities and shortcomings for the development of incentiveproduct in the country121.5 Rationale for investigationIncentive travel is an unfamiliar and not developed type of tourism in Uzbekistan.The present research will help to highlight the potential of the country and identifythe opportunities and shortcomings for future development of incentive product inthe destination. The findings of the present research may be helpful to incentiveplanners and destination management companies (DMC).1.6 Structure of the dissertationThe paper consists of the following chapters:In the Literature Review Chapter the theories and models supporting the presentresearch are discussed. Methodology Chapter presents the approach taken to answerthe research question of the paper, methods used to gather the data relevant to thepresent research and the discussion of major problems in obtaining data. In the DataPresentation and Analysis Chapter the collected data relevant to the subject of thepaper are analyzed. In the Conclusion Chapter the findings and main conclusions ofthe paper are summarized.13II CHAPTERLITERATURE REVIEW14The author has reviewed the available literature relevant to the problem. In thischapter the Silk Road concept is discussed in order to explain the reasons for tourismexistence and development in Uzbekistan. The concept of incentive travel, basiccriteria for choosing an incentive destination and current trends in incentive tourismmarket are introduced in order to give the insight of this type of business tourism. Inorder to investigate the potential of Uzbekistan for the development of incentivetravels the following models and theories are described:PEST model -to analyze the macro-environment of the destination andfactors influencing the demand in the destinationDestination tourism resources base- to evaluate the basic components ofthe destination, types of resources and attractions.Image Formation theory and Hierarchy of Effects model - to measure theperception of the destination and attitude held by the European incentiveintermediaries on the example of the British ITOs.SWOT analysis- to summarize key findings of PEST analysis and tourismresources analysis.152.1 Silk Road conceptThe Silk Road was born in the second half of the II century BC when the Chinesediplomat and traveler Chjan Tsyan discovered the countries of Central Asia for theChinese people. Thus, the two parts of the world, China and Rome, were connectedand the biggest trade networking system started its life and development. It wasnamed Silk Road by reason of transporting the silk textile, silk cloth and silkproducts from China to Western countries along it. The phrase Silk Road(Seidenstrassen) was first introduced in the scientific circles in the XIXth centuryby the German geographer Ferdinand von Richthofen in his treatise China.The Silk Road passed through the centers of the Central Asia - Samarkand, Bukhara,Marghilan, Shakhrisabz, Andijan which are the main cities of Uzbekistan. Thisregion was the meeting-point of ancient civilizations, cross-road of main exportingtrade routes coming from China to India and Europe (see Appendix III: Map of SilkRoad countries)The silk was a small part of the goods carried on the Silk Road. Gold, textiles,saffron, cucumbers, pomegranates, melons, wine and colored glass were all carriedinto China along. From the East came not only ceramics, spices and bronze but alsopaper, printing and gunpowder. The merchants were traveling along the Silk Road incaravans of camels crossing the worlds greatest deserts and mountains.The Silk Road was not only a single physical route, but a system of trade linksconnecting China and Europe. It was important in two main ways. First of all, as aspecific form of business travel, it stimulated the growth of ancient travelinfrastructure including accommodation (the caravanserai), transport services16(camel traders) and guides. Secondly, it was like an ancient inter-communicativehighway that enabled people of different cultures to meet and exchange ideas,philosophy, religious doctrines and then to carry new views and impressions to theirhome countries1.With the independence of five Central Asian republics in 1991 and with idea torevive Silk Road for cultural exchange and tourism, WTO decided to create a longtermtourism project that would promote Silk Road tourism concept and create theworld awareness of the Silk Road tourist destinations. This project united 24countries related to the Silk Road existence in the past and created Silk Roadhistorical brand for the Central Asian destinations 2.Uzbekistans competitive differentiation from the other Silk Road countries isobvious as it is the core country of the Silk Road. Its advantage is a favorablelocation at the cross-roads of Europe and Asia. Its ancient cities of Samarkand,Bukhara and Khiva represent cultural and historical heritage of the Silk Road: over6000 architectural monuments have been included into the heritage list of UNESCO.All these facts help to market the destination and create the unique destinationproposition.1 Sadullaev, A.S., (2002) History of Uzbekistan. Great Silk Road. Pg 206-212, Tashkent2 World Tourism Organisation , WTO Silk Road Project available from http://www.worldtourism.org/projects/silkroad/silkroad.html172.2 Concept of incentive travelDefinitionSociety of Incentive & Travel Executives (SITE) defines incentive trave l as a globalmanagement tool that uses an exceptional travel experience to motivate and/orrecognize participants for increased levels of performance in support oforganizational goals. Davidson R. and Cope B. in their book Business Travel givethe concept of incentive travel and describe the main actors of this type of businesstourism. Accor ding to the authors, incentive travel is the form of business tourismwhich involves employees of industry companies into group travel with or withouttheir spouses/partners. It is rewarded as a prize and paid for by the travelersemployer with the aim to encourage employees to meet business objectives. This is atype of travel which is composed of exotic and exclusive trips offering specialentertainment and events.BuyersThe US incentive travel market is the largest one in the world, as the origin ofincentive travel is attributed to the United States. Europe is the second largestincentive travel market which is generated by the United Kingdom, France, Germanyand Italy. Scandinavian countries, Austria, Belgium and Spain are developing asoutbound incentive travel generators. However, the differences are pointed outbetween these incentive destinations in the way of use of incentive travel. Incentivetravel industries in France, Italy and Germany are focused on their own domesticdestinations, while the UK domestic market is small and is not considered as an18appropriate destination for incentive programmes. The consumers of incentive travelare mainly industry sectors (see Table 1)Table 1 Incentive Travel buyers by sectorInformation technology 87%Automobile 64%Financial-service insurance 64%Pharmaceutical 60%Telecommunications 58%Financial services-other 54%Food, drink and tobacco 32%Manufacturing 24%Manufacturing-fast-moving consumer goods 24%Electronics 20%Retail 10%Utilities 5%Internet 5%Flooring 5%Building industries 5%Distribution 5%Recruitment 5%Petrochemical 5%Source: Conference & Incentive Travel, February 2002Incentive travel organizers (ITOs)Incentive travel programmes are constructed by ITOs which can be represented byincentive travel agencies, incentive travel companies and incentive travel houses.The process of constructing and implementing an incentive programme requires along-term planning and involvement in the activities like:Analysis of the clients business and the types of travel rewards mostappropriate to their company19Establishment of short-list of possible destinations with the client which isbased on employees aspirations, budget and where a companys recentincentives were heldDetermination of the needs and desires of employees as well as their spousesor partnersPromotional campaign within the company to advertise the competition andthe prizeMonitoring employees performance and periodically sending them thereminders of the desirability of the prizeChoosing and nominating the winnersDesigning incentive tripsITOs have to provide the participants with the travel experience which sur prises,delights and impresses. This makes incentive trip different from general holidaytravel. It has to be unique. Itineraries should be full of surprises and special events. Ithas to provide the participants with the opportunity to experience extraor dinaryactivities. The participants should have the impression that they have had privilegedaccess to exclusive places and people. The activities and sports should be included asa way of making the trip more memorable and dynamic.Incentive trip involves ITOs in negotiation and arrangements concerningorganization of transport, accommodation, entertainment and activities. With thisconcern incentive travel agencies tend to work in partnership with DestinationManagement Companies (DMC) who use their local knowledge and contacts to turnthe incentive travel agencys ideas into reality.20SuppliersIncentive travel makes use of the services and facilities of each sector of the tourismindustry, including accommodation, transport, tourist attractions and recreationalresources. It is a type of travel which requires luxury and comfort as well as animpeccable standard of services and attention to detail. Accommodation has to be ofthe highest standard, offering leisure facilities, good supply of restaurants and barsand conference facilities. Accessibility is important as well as the destination shouldbe reached by as many means of transport as possible. Ease of traveling around thedestination is also essential. Transport element is not simply the means of getting tothe destination but it is very often a part of the incentive experience itself. The typeof transportation mostly used for this reason are coaches, trams, cars, jeeps, ferries,boats branded with the company logo, on-board entertainment, personalizedwelcome messages as well as gifts as a souvenir of the trip. Attractions and activitiesshould be as varied and as distinctive as possible 3.DestinationsThe other important supply side elements in the incentive market are the destinationsthat are used for trips of this kind. Davidson R. in his book Travel and Tourism inEurope speaks about the results of the Travel and Tourism Intelligence survey onhow destinations for incentive travel programmes are selected4. According to thissurvey, for the European market the determinants in the decision process are rankedas follows:3 Davidson, R., and Cope, B., (2003) Business Travel. Harlow, Pearson Education Limited, IncentiveTravel pp 158-1894 Davidson, R., (1998) Travel and Tourism in Europe. USA, Addison Wesley Longman LTD,Incentive Travel pp 188-19421Budget and cost consideration - 34 % of respondentsExotic destinations - 8%Availability of sports and recreational facilities- 6%Climate- 5%Ease of transport-5%American incentive experts Judie Carrol, Jim Gossett and Steve OMalley in theirarticle Choosing a destination are discussing the main criteria incentive destinationmust fulfill. They put more emphasis on the positive image (name recognition) of thedestination that means a lot when stimulating participants interest. Furthermore,they think that less-known destinations may be more difficult to sell to decisionmakersand participants, but they can help create unique motivational experiences.Finally, they advise to incentive planners to take into consideration the followingaspects of incentive destinations:Safety: since incentive business is sensitive type of business, safety isespecially important for incentive groups, which usually represent the mostvaluable human capital possessed by company. Incentive planners mustdetermine that their itineraries are safe.Accessibility: incentive destination should be accessible to groups , i.e.convenient and easy to reach. The first consideration is transportation. If thegroup is traveling by ground, it is advisory to identify primary and secondaryroutes to the site. If incentive participants are traveling by air, it is essentialto check to make sure several carriers serve the destination, and create backupplans for getting participants home in case of an emergency. Also it isimportant to consider the transportation infrastructure within the incentive22destination and to check the condition of local roads and make sure there arebackup transportation options ava ilable. It is necessary to find out the truedistance between the airport and the hotel, and to take into consideration thatweather has great influence on accessibility and transportation.Destination details: any destination should have a well-developed travelinfrastructure: a competitive selection of air carriers, hotels, groundtransportation companies with high-quality service. There should be enoughvariety in order to construct an effective incentive programme like naturalattractions ( beautiful landscapes, natural parks), nightlife (a world-classselection of restaurants, cafes and bars, theatre and musical performances),historical attractions (museums, historic sites, forts, castles), local culture(specific cuisines, traditional music, dancing or art, special events likefestivals which count as valuable cultural selling points), sports (golf , tennis,skiing, diving, boating and hiking) 5Current trends in incentive travel marketThe current trends in incentive tourism are found as follows: the European incentivemarket is growing and expanding to more adventurous and less-known destinations;many European award winners have been already traveling within the Europeancontinent and are likely to be attracted to more unusual destinations offering newexperiences and engagement in new activities6; industry companies are looking for5 Carrol, J., Gossett, J., and OMalley, S., (2004) Choosing a destination. Incentive. New York: 2004.pg.366 Davidson, R., (1998) Travel and Tourism in Europe. USA, Addison Wesley Longman LTD23lower-cost alternatives7; Asia is becoming the hot spot for incentives and meetingswith its top destinations like China, Taiwan, Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia,Singapore8.7 Davidson, R., (1994) Business Travel. England, Longman Incentive Travel pp. 69-868 Welsh Sara J., (2004) Enter the Dragon. Successful Meetings, Dec.2004, Vol. 53 Issue 13, p41, 3p,8c242.3 The macro-environment of the destination -PEST modelSwarbrooke J. and Horner S. in their book Business travel and Tourism talk aboutthe importance of macro-environment of business travel and external factorsinfluencing the demand9. The macro-environment comprises factors which havegreat influence on the product development and the destination as a whole. Thesefactors exist at a national or global level. The main elements of the microenvironmentare presented in the PEST model which categorizes the environmentalinfluences into four main types:PoliticalEconomicalSocialTechnologicalThe scope of PEST analysis is outlined in the Figure 1. John Tribe 10 defines thepolitical environment as a part of the macro environment which is under the directcontrol of the government. Government has direct control over legislation andregulation, economic policy, government-owned businesses, governmentinternational policy. Another important aspect of the political environment ispolitical stability. The key factors in the economic environment are economic growthwhich is defined as the increase in real output per capita of a country and measuredby Gross Domestic Product (GDP); consumers expenditure which is determined byincome level; investment expenditure which is expenditure on capital goods such ashotel construction; exchange rates, the value of a countrys currency in terms of other9 Swarbrooke, J., and Horner, S., (2002) Business Travel and Tourism. Great Britain, The Bath PressThe macro-environment of business travel and tourism pp 67-7410 Tribe, J., (1997) Corporate Strategy for Tourism. London, International Thomson Business Press.Analysing the external environme nt for tourism organizations: PEST pp 54-7925currencies; taxation, including taxes on income, spending and profits; inflation, thechange in the general level of prices; unemployment, the number of people withoutjobs. Factors in the social environment include the size and structure of thepopulation, social class and attitudes and values, social concerns. Technologicalenvironment can offer changes in information technology, communicationsdevelopment, development of the Internet means, and technological change intransportation. PEST analysis provides a framework to analyze opportunities andthreats and to plan a future scenario.Figure 1. PEST Analysis factorsSource: Swarbrooke, J., and Horner, S., (2002) Business Travel and Tourism. Great Britain, The BathPress The macro-environment of business travel and tourism p. 68ECONOMIC FACTORSThe state of economiesInterest ratesCurrency exchange ratesPrices, inflationThe way in which wealth isdistributed in the societyGlobalisationIndustry ownership (vertical andhorizontal integration)SOCIAL FACTORSDemographic changeSocial concerns suchas environmental issuesLifestyle developmentsTECHNOLOGICALFACTORSProduct technologiesCommunication technologiesOperational technologiesPESTAnalysisPOLITICAL FACTORSLegislation and regulationGovernment policies ontourismTaxation systemsCo-operation betweengovernmentsGovernment grants and fiscalincentivesPolitical stability: civildisorder, strikes and war262.4 Destination Tourism Resource BaseTourism resources are the features which attract tourists into the destination. Theyrepresent the supply side which needs to be matched with the market demand todevelop a certain tourist product. When planning the development of the touristproduct, the critical evaluation of tourism resources the destination can offer is animportant step. It helps to identify product weaknesses and strengths , its uniquenessand tourist appeal. Godfrey K. and Clarke J. categorize tourism resources into11:NaturalCulturalEventsActivitiesServicesNatural resources include aspects of flora and fauna, landscape, climate and water.They often form a central element of a destinations tourism appeal and in somelocations they may be the most important destinations features.Cultural resources include elements of history such as old buildings and ruins,castles, forts and historic homes; elements of historical interpretation such asmuseums, heritage sites. Cultural resources reflect certain aspects of current society;include religious settings, elements of nationality, the life and lifestyle of a particularindigenous culture and society.Event resources include festivals, tournaments, street carna vals, and parades,competitions in sport, recreation, music or arts. These events can help to form an11 Godfrey, K., and Clarke, J., (2000) The tourism development handbook. A practical approach toplanning and marketing. London, Kerry Godfrey and Jackie Clarke. What have we got?Understanding tourism resources. pp 64-8527image of the destination. Events also encompass high-profile but less frequentactivities, such as trade shows, business conventions and national and internationalsporting events.Activity resources include purpose-built tourist/leisure attractions and facilities suchas theme parks and entertainment centers, zoos, aquariums, gardens. In terms of sportand recreation, activity resources may range from ski hills, golf-courses and sportstadiumsto cycle routes or natural panoramic view points. They may also includeconference centers and meetings rooms, art and craft galleries, gift shops, theatresand cinemas.Service resources include accommodation and catering, transport, hospitality andgeneral community services. Infrastructure is also important as it affects theaccessibility to the destination.An assessment of tourism resources in the destination is done on the basis of theiroverall quality, uniqueness and appeal. Resource quality is not only customer servicebut it includes conservation and management. Resource uniqueness is the sense ofplace, its character, what makes it different from the other places. Resource appeal isa drawing power of each destinations feature.282.5 Image Formation Theory and Hierarchy of Effects modelCzilla Jandala, the Hungarian researcher, in her report Destination imagedevelopment-tools and techniques12 states:The choice between tourism destinations is determined by the picture that thepotential tourist/visitor holds on the country, the region, the tourism product and/orthe tourist companyin the choice of tourism destination the image plays animportant role. People hold perceptions of different destinations and theseperceptions become key factor of selection (p.341-342).There exist various definitions of the image. The World Tourism Organisation(WTO) gives the following definition of image: Image is comprised of theideas or conceptions held individually or collectively of the destinations underinvestigation. Image may comprise both cognitive and evaluative components.Gartner cited in Jandala differs three main image components13: cognitive, image ofthe destination based on the information which is known or believed to be true;affective (feelings), based on the evaluation of the object and ones motivation; andconative which is behavior, intention and preferences. Reich further explains therelationship between these components14: beliefs about the destination are firstdeveloped in the cognitive stage where they are evaluated for their positive, negativeor neutral impact on the individual; the affective component is related to the attitudeof the individual toward the object; the conative stage is the behavioral result of thecognitive and affective stages. Howie divided the image into two types: organicand induced15. An organic image is created through personal visitation or through theinformation derived from conversations with friends, family or acquaintances.12 Jandala, S., (1998) Destination image development-tools and techniques. International Associationof Scientific Experts in Tourism Vol. 40, Suisse pg 341-34213 Jandala, S., (1998) Destination image development-tools and techniques. International Associationof Scientific Experts in Tourism Vol. 40, Suisse pg 341-34214 Reich, A.Z., (1999) Positioning of Tourist Destinations. USA, Sagamore Publishing. Positioningand image. The image construct. p.2015 Howie, F., (2003) Managing the tourist destination. London, YHT Ltd. Image theory. pp103-11229Induced image is the result of advertising in newspapers and magazines, touristbrochures, television.In order to measure the consumer attitude toward a particular tourist product, it isessential to identify the consumers awareness of this product and his beliefs about it.To explain this relationship Reich used hierarchy of effect model to show thesuccessive stages a consumer will progress through before a purchase is made (seeFigure 2).Figure 2 Hierarchy of effects modelConativeAffectiveCognitiveSource: Reich, A.Z., (1999) Positioning of Tourist Destinations. USA, Sagamore Publishing.Positioning and image. p.31PurchasePurchase intentionBeliefs/KnowledgeAttitudeAwareUnaware30Unaware - at some point all consumers are unaware of certain product optionsAware - they learn of various options through personal and non-personalcommunication channelsBeliefs/knowledge - from personal and non-personal communication channelsconsumers collect knowledge that can be used to form beliefs about the productAttitude - the consumers begin organizing their beliefs about the product anddeveloping attitude towards it. Positive attitude leads to a preference.Purchase intention - intention is based on the attitude which can motivate theconsumer to make a purchasePurchase - if the consumers attitude is positive, the intention is high and theconsumer is motivated, a purchase will be made.312.6 SWOT analysisSWOT analysis is an acronym for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats.It is an analytical tool for summarizing the results of the various types of analyses.The strengths and weaknesses are based on the internal analysis and the opportunitiesand threats are based on analysis of the external environment. The purpose of SWOTanalysis is to identify the situational position and to provide a platform for planningfor the future. The SWOT is presented in a table 16 (see Figure 3).Figure 3. SWOTInternalStrengths WeaknessesExternalOpportunities ThreatsSource: Evans, N., Campbell, D., and Stonehouse, G., (2003) Strategic Management for Travel andTourism, Oxford, Butterworth-Heinemann. SWOT Analysis p.19816 Evans, N., Campbell, D., and Stonehouse, G., (2003) Strategic Management for Travel andTourism, Oxford, Butterworth-Heinemann. SWOT Analysis pp 196-20132This chapter has concentrated on discussing the concepts, theories and models whichwill help to highlight the research problem from different perspectives. The SilkRoad concept gives the understanding of the historical and cultural roots ofUzbekistan and existing advantages and opportunities for tourism development in thedestination. The concept of incentive travel includes the definition of this specifictype of business tourism, the nature of incentive buyers demand, the role of ITOsand Suppliers in meeting the needs and expectations of incentive travelers and basiccriteria for choosing an incentive destination. The current trends highlight the presentdemand and priorities in the European incentive travel market. PEST model or theanalysis of the macro-environment of the destination gives a total picture of theexternal factors which might influence on the demand and development of a futuretourist product in the destination. Destination tourism resource base encompassesdifferent tourist attractions , such as natural and cultural attractions, event resources,activity and service resources, available in the destination to draw visitors in. Imageformation theory and Hierarchy of Effects model explains how the image about thedestination is formed and how the purchase decision is made in the minds ofcustomers/tourists. SWOT analysis summarizes the results of different types ofanalyses. Different models of analysis have been used in the present study in order toexamine the overall research question from the following perspectives: externalopportunities and threats for the destination; internal potential of tourism resources;destination image (perception); strengths and weaknesses of the destination. Themethods used to collect the data for different analyses will be presented in the nextchapter. Both primary and secondary data have been used for the analyses.33III CHAPTERMETHODOLOGY343.1 Secondary researchThe secondary data interpreted in this paper have been collected from UzbektourismNational Company, WTO Silk Road office in Samarkand and Internet. One of thedifficulties in obtaining secondary data from Uzbektourism National Company wasthe lack of reliable and readily available information on the characteristics of theexisting tourism market in Uzbekistan. The quality of general information aboutUzbekistan available in the Internet was found doubtful and biased. The data used foranalyses have been taken from the reports and marketing researches on Uzbekistanstourism strengths and weaknesses from supply perspective carried out and written bythe local and foreign tourism experts:1. Tourism Infrastructure Market of Uzbekistan by Murod Madjidov U.S.Foreign Commercial Service. Report date: December 20, 2003. This reportgives an idea about Uzbek tourism infrastructure market and existingopportunities.2. Uzbekistan, a great potential to be unlocked. Recommendations for anenhanced tourism strategy in Uzbekistan by the Tourism & HospitalityIndustry Working Group, American Chamber of Commerce in Uzbekistan.Discussion paper: July 9, 2003. In this document the barriers in tourismsector have been outlined and recommendations were put forward.3. Central Asia: Problems and Perspectives of International Tourism bySlavomir Horak Institute of International Studies, Faculty of Social Sciences,Charles University Prague. Research conducted in 1999-2003. Analysis ofcontemporary tourism possibilities in Central Asia is given in this paper.354. Japanese on Holidays Abroad and Tourism in Uzbekistan by ShimaYukio, JICA expert. Report date: December 03, 2002. In this report thecurrent situation and future perspectives of tourism in Uzbekistan arehighlighted.5. Sustainable Tourism Development in Uzbekistan - Action Plan. Projectrealized in co-operation with tourism experts and researchers from UNO,WTO and National Company Uzbektourism. Report date: September 22,1997. In this document 3 year marketing programme for tourism developmentin Uzbekistan is presented.3.2 Primary researchThe aim of the primary research was to find out the perception of Uzbekistan held bythe European incentive intermediaries on the example of the British ITOs. The datahave been collected through small sample survey which was aimed to discover theBritish ITOs awareness, familiarity and level of interest with Uzbekistan and theirperception of the country as an incentive destination.The survey targeted London based incentive event organizing companies. Thirty-twocompanies were approached. Contacted companies are the members of IncentiveTravel & Meetings Association (ITMA) which is the UK-based trade association fororganizations that provide business events including meetings and travel incentives.The instrument of the research was the questionnaire which has been mailedelectronically (see Appendix IV: Questionnaire). The questionnaire was developedfollowing a review of the related literature and consisted of 7 questions including 336open questions in order to make the respondents describe the feelings and image theyhave had about Uzbekistan. It was sent together with the informative letter followedby a reminder one week later.In total 32 ITOs were contacted, 10 replied, 8 questionnaires were completed. Theresults of the survey have been summarized by means of descriptive statistics and theconclusion is limited to the responses obtained.The distribution of questionnaires via e-mail had a number of advantages anddisadvantages:Advantages DisadvantagesE-mail survey is inexpensive andnot time-consuming.The sample is reached quicklyThe respondents can complete thequestionnaires on their own.Low response rateIncomplete questionnairesMisunderstanding of questionsNot sure that the right personfilled in the questionnaireAccording to the authors impression, the low response rate (25%) could beexplained by insufficient interest of respondents in the subject of the survey.The next chapter will present the interpretation of secondary data and the results ofthe primary research.37IV CHAPTERDATA PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS38In this chapter the analysis of collected data relevant to the subject of the research ispresented. Operating with facts the author of the paper first investigated whatenvironmental factors might influence the destination and what opportunities andthreats for the incentive product development in the destination are coming out.Using data from previous researches and studies on tourism infrastructure market andtourism potential of Uzbekistan, the author evaluated principal tourism resources ofthe destination from three perspectives: resource uniqueness, resource quality andresource appeal. Then, the results of the survey conducted in the British incentivetourism market with the aim to discover the interest with Uzbekistan as an incentivedestination are presented. Key findings of the PEST analysis, tourism resourceanalysis and survey are summarized in the SWOT table.394.1. PEST analysis4.1.1 Political factorsGeopolitical situation of Uzbekistan is characterized by the proximity of unstablecountries such as Afghanistan in the south and Tadjikistan in the southeast (seeAppendix II: Map of Uzbekistan) which are highlighted by mass media as theregions of civil wars, narcotics trafficking, terrorist acts and Islamic fundamentalism.The tourists motivation to come to Uzbekistan might be greatly influenced by thenegative image of these regions which are perceived as risk zones.Political situation in Uzbekistan is defined as stable. However, the political regime inthe country, which is found undemocratic and totalitarian in the western minds,provokes the protests of the local population and causes troubles in some regions ofthe country. These troubles destabilize the political situation in the country and maycause the decrease in tourists flow to the destination as in the recent case of Andijanevent (the liberation of political prisoners) on May 13th, 2005 in Ferghana valley, oneof the tourist visiting centers.Many European tourists still keep in their minds the political image of Uzbekistan asone of the republics of the former Soviet Union. This image is rather unfavorable forthe successful promotion of the destination as it dominates over the image ofUzbekistan as a Silk Road country.Phenomenon of corruption is a social vice which creates a negative image of thecountry as well and is considered to be a main obstacle for development andprogress. Tourism is a very profitable sector of the local economy and corruption ischaracterized by overpricing of tourist services.40Visa and entrance process is found difficult and complicated. The present entryrequirements to Uzbekistan are too restrictive for international travelers.4.1.2 Economical factorsUzbekistan is still developing country and is in the process of transition to the freemarket economy. Great economical potential is found in Uzbekistan, however, thereexist economic hardships like inflation, unemployment, currency convertibilityrestrictions which slow down the overall economic growth. In early 2004 Uzbekministry reported on stable economic growth and low inflation in Uzbekistan. It wasachieved by the creation of favorable macroeconomic environment for theentrepreneurship, the reformation in the economy and the implementation ofinvestment projects. To stimulate the tourism development in the country, favorableconditions were created for investment projects in tourism sector, namely 3 years taxexemption for companies working in the Silk Road cities and 5 years profitrepatriation tax exemption for joint ventures. Investment projects with foreigncompanies are aimed at renovation of material and technical base, improvement oftourism infrastructure and overall quality of tourist destination.Unification of the exchange rates is a positive development in the economy. Before2004 the parallel exchange rate, official and black, existed in the country leavingtourists with the impression that they are being short-changed and getting bad valuefor money.Prices and salaries are found very low by Western standards. This may be theopportunity to create a relatively cheap tourist product in the destination.414.1.3 Socio-cultural factorsChanges in demand and values have been identified in global tourism and,particularly, in incentive tourism. On the global level international travelers areseeking undiscovered and authentic experiences; there is a growth in long-haultraffic. When talking about incentive tourism it was mentioned above that Europeanincentive market is growing and expanding to more adventurous and less-knowndestinations; many European award winners have been already traveling within theEuropean continent and are likely to be attracted to more unusual destinationsoffering new experiences and engagement in new activities; industry companies arelooking for lower-cost alternatives; Asia is becoming the hot spot for incentives andmeetings with its top destinations like China, Taiwan, Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia,Singapore.There occurred as well changes in tourists attitudes to the physical environment.Tourists are becoming environmentally more sensitive and prefer traveling toecologically save (healthy) destinations. However, in Uzbekistan, there is anecological problem in the Aral Sea region in the north-western part of the country(see Appendix II- Map of Uzbekistan) which caused the environmental pollution inthis area what affected the overall image of Uzbekistan as environmentally pollutedcountry.As a social factor it is also important to consider the attitude of local people toforeign visitors in the destination. Uzbek people are found very friendly andhospitable towards the tourists, which is explained by a long tradition of receivingguests and foreigners.424.1.4 TechnologicalTechnological development in Uzbekistan is limited to the implementation of highspeed Internet, phone and mobile connections, international dialing. Technologicalchange in transportation is found in the improvement of aircrafts and railway system.4.1.5 External opportunities and threats for the development of incentiveproduct in UzbekistanThe following opportunities for the development of incentive product in Uzbekistanwere identified:New trends in global tourism and incentive market represent the opportunity forUzbekistan to become one of the destinations for incentive programme. Its a longhaul destination which is rather unknown for international travelers and couldprovide new experiences, aspirations and spirit of adventures for award winners.Taking into consideration that incentive travelers flows to Asian countries areincreasing and the fact that Asia is becoming a hot spot for incentive and meetings,Uzbekistan could promote itself as a potential incentive destination belonging toAsian region and benefiting from the favorable location between East and West.Stable economic growth in Uzbekistan could stimulate the demand for businesstravel in the destination in the futur e. Successful development of foreign investmentprojects in tourism sector aimed at renovation of material and technical base andimprovement of travel infrastructure has a favorable impact on the overall quality of43the destination. The opportunities might be found in providing internationalstandards accommodation, good road and travel infrastructure. Technologicalimprovement of telecommunication services creates the opportunity for thedestination to integrate fully into the global telecommunication system which is animportant factor for business travelers.Since in the selection process of incentive destination one of the most importantdeterminants is budget and cost consideration, with low level prices a relativelycheap incentive product can be created in Uzbekistan. This factor could beattractive both for incentive buyers (industry companies) and incentive travelorganizers.The factors which represent threats for the development of incentive product in thedestination are found as follows:Uzbekistan suffers from political instability. Politically unstable destinations areperceived as unsafe destinations. Since incentive tourism is rather sensitive type oftourism and requires safety in the destination, this factor represents a potential threatfor incentive product development in Uzbekistan.Neighborhood with politically unstable countries like Afghanistan and Tadjikistan,corruption, image of the former Soviet Union republic and ecological problem of theAral sea region create overall unfavorable image of Uzbekistan which makes itdifficult to promote the country as an incentive destination.Popularity with Asian incentive destinations is a competitive threat for Uzbekistan.Asian countries like China, Taiwan, Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia, and Singapore are44attractive alternatives and offer exciting experiences as well as high quality service.Incentive travel industry in these countries is in its growth and overall image of thedestinations is very positive, while Uzbekistan is unknown destination havingunfavorably formed image and not developed incentive travel industry.Visa and entrance process is found complicated in Uzbekistan. This factor creates anobstacle for incentive travel groups to come easily to the destination and placeUzbekistan at a disadvantage with its competitor incentive destinations.454.2 Evaluation of tourism resources of Uzbekistan4.2.1 Natural resourcesThe uniqueness and drawing power of natural resources of Uzbekistan lies in thediversity of landscapes. Different landscapes can be found in Uzbekistan, such asmountains, valleys, oases, steppes and deserts. Such a variety of natural areas createsopportunities to develop a number of specialist tourism products including hunting,fishing, mountain trekking, camel riding, horse riding, skiing, ecological tours etc.Water resources are not in abundance in the destination and a few of them areutilized for tourism activities. The Aral Sea, Amu Darya and Syr Darya rivers,mineral springs, mountain lakes and rivers are the main water sources in the country.Nowadays the shrinking of the Aral Sea in the northern part of Uzbekistan andpollution of nearby territories is a major ecological problem resulted from thediverting the waters of two big rivers into canals and waterways for irrigationpurposes. With this concern the Aral Sea region is considered to be unsuitable fortourism activities.Another aspect of the natural resources is climate, which is an importantconsideration in the destination as it affects the seasonality of the tourist product. Dryclimate with contrasting and quick transition from the unstable winter to the warmrainy spring, from damp, warm and short spring to the dry summer, is typical ofUzbekistan. Very often autumn begins with sharp fluctuation of temperature, lightfrosts, rains, sometimes followed by snow for a short period of time. The transitionfrom autumn to winter is sharp. Winters are very unstable; often light frosts and hardfrosts are followed by intensive and lasting thaws. The temperature in winter goes46down to - 20C-25C (maximum), in summer the temperature goes up to +37C (maximum +45C - +47C).. The spring and autumn time is the most suitable forvisiting Uzbekistan because of the favorable climate conditions. From the destinationattractiveness perspective these seasonal periods give more remarkable impressionsto visitors providing them with seeing the most beautiful sceneries, such as springblossoms and autumn foliages. Hot and dry summer makes Uzbekistan not suitablefor summer holidays. The winter time is boring and not spectacular to travel in thedestination.4.2.2 Cultural resourcesCultural resources are in abundance in Uzbekistan and a major tourism appeal of thedestination. They include historical buildings, museums and heritage sites, nationalart and craft works, folklore and local traditions. Cultural and historical heritage ofUzbekistan is represented mainly by historical cities of Samarkand, Bukhara andKhiva founded over 2 500 years ago. They preserve the samples of Islamicarchitecture of the IX-XIXth centuries such as madrassahs (Islamic seminaries),mosques (Islamic churches), minarets (tall slender spire forming part of a mosque,with a balcony from which people are called to prayer by a muezzin) andmausoleums. Over 6000 architectural monuments of Uzbekistan have been includedinto the world heritage list of UNESCO. Slight distance between the main historicalcities makes them suitable for round guided tours. Each city has its own style andcharacter.Samarkand is presented as the crossroad, important trading center of the Silk Roadand the capital of the former empire of Tamerlane, one of the conquerors of the47Central Asian region. The principal tourist attractions include the Registan Squarewhich is the center of the historical city where three huge madrassahs built betweenthe 15th and 17th centuries, dominate the area; the Bibi Khanym Mosque, a testimonyto Tamerlanes love for his wife; Gur-Emir mausoleum, the family crypt ofTamerlane and his descendants; the Shah-i-Zinda, a collection of the graves of someof Samarkands dignitaries; the Observatory of Ulug Beg, Tamerlanes grandson,which was the most advanced astronomical observatory of its day.BukharaWest of Samarkand, Bukhara was once a center of learning renowned throughout theIslamic world. In Bukhara, there are more than 350 mosques and 100 religiouscolleges. The center of historical Bukhara is the Shakristan, which contains the Ark,or palace complex of the Emirs (Kings). Near the gatehouse is the Zindan or jail ofthe Emirs, which has a display of some of the torture methods employed by theEmirs against their enemies. Not far from the Ark, the 47m- (154ft-) high KalyanMinaret, or tower of death, was built in 1127. Other sites of interest in Bukharainclude the Kalyan Mosque, which is open to non-Muslims, the Ismail SamaniMausoleum, the Ulug Beg Madrasa the oldest in Central Asia, Sitora-i-Mokhi-Khossa, a country side residence of Bukharian Emirs.KhivaKhiva, northeast of Bukhara, is younger and better preserved than Samarkand andBukhara. The city still lies within the original city walls, and has changed little sincethe 18th century. Part of its attraction is its completeness; although it has been turnedinto a museum town and is hardly inhabited.48Arts and crafts of Uzbekistan are also important element s of cultural resources whichreflect the culture, lifestyle, customs and traditions of local people. Manufacturing ofmulticolored ceramics, the art of jewelry, metal chasing and engraving, ornamentalembroidery and silk production, carpet weaving, wood carving and painting, art ofminiature and calligraphy are traditional crafts which have been revived since ancienttimes. Arts and crafts articles are exhibited in the museums and workshops, many ofthem are commercialized in the souvenir and gift shops in the main tourist regions ofthe destination.4.2.3 Event resourcesEntertainment industry is not well-developed in Uzbekistan and limited to discos andnight clubs. Big scaled events are arranged only on public holidays. The mostsignificant ones of national scale are the Independence Day, on the 1st of September,which is celebrated with the light and sound show followed by the fireworks in thecentral place of Tashkent (capital of Uzbekistan) ; Navruz Day, the celebration of aMuslim New Year and spring arrival, on the 21st of March, which is accompanied byfeasts, traditional music performances and shows in the streets all over Uzbekistan.These eve nts could be of enough interest to supplement visitor activities while in thedestination. There is another remarkable event in Uzbekistan which could be usefulas a tourism resource to draw visitors in. Once in two years the InternationalMusical Festival Oriental Melodies takes place in Samarkand at the end of summerwhich attracts the participants from all over the world, both from Western andEastern countries. The aim of this festival is to demonstrate the folklore music,culture and traditions of different peoples of the World. The event is built up in the49central historical place of Samarkand, the Registan square, and involves theparticipation both of non-local and local people.4.2.4 Activity resourcesActivity resources of Uzbekistan can be divided into the following categories:Recreational activities include Golf Course in the Tashkent LakesideGolf Club which is the first International Championship Golf Course inCentral Asia. The course is located outside of Tashkent withinapproximately 20 minutes drive from the center of the city. Skiing andsnowboarding in Uzbekistan are also possible in the mountain resorts ofthe Chimgan region, the Western Tyan Shan Mountains. However, theinfrastructure for these types of activities is currently under developmentand cannot be fully utilized Hunting and fishing facilities are offered byHunting Board and Administration of State Reserves and National Parksof Uzbekistan which supervises 6 State-forest-hunting grounds in thecountry. Horse and camel riding are possible in the valleys and desertareas of Uzbekistan and very popular activities among cultural andadventure tourists.Plenty of the leisure activities can be found in Tashkent mainly in thetheme parks, Botanic and Japanese gardens. Uzbek theatre and circusperformances and traditional fashion shows are also attractive activities fortourists.Shopping activities in Uzbekistan are of interest in art and craft galleriesand gift shops which can be found in all tourist visiting places.50Most of the activity resources of Uzbekistan are concentrated in Tashkent andTashkent region, while the other regions of the country offer a few of them.4.2.5 Service resourcesAccommodationRecent years there was considerably improved the hotel accommodationinfrastructure in Uzbekistan. The plenty of the Western-style hotels including hotelsbelonging to international chains have been erected in the 1996-2003 period aroundthe Silk Road cities The majority of 5* and 4* hotels are located in the businesscenters of the cities and offer a wide range of services including conference facilities.There exist other types of hotels in Uzbekistan, namely private hotels and bed &breakfast (B&B) facilities designed in the Uzbek traditional style. These hotels arecomfortable and compact and contain no more than 20 rooms. Private hotels andB&B represent a new generation of hotels in Uzbekistan and can be found in themain tourist regions of the destination. In desert regions a special accommodation isprovided for adventurous tourists, the so-called yurt- a nomads tent made of felt. Itis the traditional abode of the nomads of Central Asia from ancient time to moderndays. Yurts were the main Kazakh and Karakalpak dwelling for the desert.Nowadays, this type of accommodation is offered to tourists willing to experienceauthenticity and spirit of adventures. Camel riding and Kazakh troubadourperformances near the fireplace are the way of tourist entertainment in desert regions..51CateringCatering companies are numerous in Uzbekistan and offer both international andlocal meals. Catering services are provided by hotels, restaurants, bars, cafes, bistrosand fast food companies. Local food can be also consumed at tea houses and guesthouses. The tea house or choyhona in Uzbekistan is a cornerstone of traditionalUzbek society. It is not only a place for tea drinking but it is also a place for socialinteraction. Green tea is the drink of hospitality and predominant in Uzbekistan. It isoffered first to any guest and there exists a whole ceremony of the preparation,offering and consuming of tea. Tea drinking is accompanied by consuming driedfruits and traditional snacks. Guest houses are also the providers of traditional food.One particularly distinctive feature of guest houses is that the tourists have anopportunity to see local food production techniques or participate in foodpreparation. Major problems found in catering industry in Uzbekistan are the lack ofculinary experience to make the best of good foods and ingredients available inUzbekistan. Kitchen and storage areas do not often meet the requirements ofhygiene. Restaurant service standards are also weak with little evidence of effective,guest focused supervision.TransportTransportation infrastructure was found good in the country. Tashkent airport is the primaryarrival point for international visitors to Uzbekistan. Besides, there are 12 regional airports inthe regional centers of the country. The airports in Tashkent, Samarkand, Bukhara andUrgench (near Khiva) have been renovated and now operate with new navigation equipmentand passenger terminals. All the airports are managed by Uzbekistan Airways National AirCompany. Uzbekistan Air-Lines now provide direct access from Tashkent to Uzbekistans52main source markets. Though Uzbekistan is a long-haul destination, it is rather accessible tomain European tourism markets due to regular international flights to/from London, Paris,New York, Amsterdam, Frankfurt, Istanbul, Moscow, Delhi, Tel Aviv, Kuala Lumpur,Bangkok, Seoul and Beijing. The provision of new Airbus and Boeing aircraft placesUzbekistan in a strong position to attract long haul travellers. In addition to UzbekistanAirways a number of Western and Asian airlines fulfill flights to Tashkent: British Airways,Air France, Turkish Air, Iran Air, Asiana, Aeroflot and Transaero. The National RailwayCompany provides passenger rail service. However, the national system of railroads is stillunder development and modernization. At present the trains operating between Tashkent andSamarkand and Tashkent and Bukhara are found relatively comfortable for internationaltravelers. Road travel is one of the most frequently used ways to travel across Uzbekistan,though bumpy roads, old buses and exhausting trips between the cities dont impress toomuch international visitors. When constructing trips around Uzbekistan, the combination oftransport means is possible. As there are no regular interregional flights, which is a greatdisadvantage, the most appropriate way to travel between the historical cities is by coach orautocar. Usually the starting point of the trip is Tashkent followed by Samarkand, Bukharaand Khiva. The trip ends up flying from Khiva to Tashkent. The opposite direction is alsopossible.4.2.6 Potential of internal tourism resources for the development of incentiveproduct in UzbekistanExamination of the principle tourism resources of Uzbekistan determined the internalpotential of the destination for the development of incentive product. From thenatural resources, the local scenery might be considered appealing as its diversity canprovide the incentive travelers with plentiful of impressions as well as with the53variety of recreational activities. From the climate perspective the best period for theorganization of incentive travels can be May and October months.Cultural resources are a major tourism appeal of the destination and can contributemuch to providing the incentive travelers with exotic cultural experience.Samarkand, Bukhara and Khiva are the principle tourist visiting centers in thedestination and incentive events can be built up around historical sights of theseancient cities. Traditional arts and crafts articles can be offered to incentiveparticipants as gifts and souvenirs.Event resources can be used if an incentive programme is planning to be built uparound a traditional local event in the destination, for example, Celebration ofNavruz Day. However, in this case it is important to consider the scale of local eventand involvement of local participants as an incentive experience is supposed to beunique and exclusive.Recreational and leisure activities like, for example, golf course, camel or horseriding, fishing, Uzbek theatre or circus performances, traditional fashion shows cansupplement and diversify the incentive programme.The opening up of new international standard hotels, for example, Meridien,Intercontinental, together with the growth of international inward investment couldfacilitate the development of an incentive travel product in the destination. This willneed creative packaging by incoming tour operators who will have to create uniquespecial events for the incentive traveler. Private hotels and B&B are meant toaccommodate holiday tourists, but they can be attractive for small and medium sizeincentive groups as they are comfortable and compact, represent the elements oflocal culture and traditions and offer unique and authentique opportunity to integrate54into the local life. Lodging in yurts is an alternative of accommodation in the desertregions. When constructing incentive programme, this type of accommodation canbe taken into consideration, if any event is planned in the desert region. Cateringservices for incentive partic ipants are better provided by international standardhotels. Regarding the means of travelling in the destination, for incentive travelgroups in order to avoid exhausting and time consuming trips the most comfortableway to travel across Uzbekistan is by charter flights between the historical cities andby coach in the cities.554.3. Perception of Uzbekistan held by British ITOsThe responses of British ITOs are categorized into the following variables:awareness and familiarity with Uzbe kistan, image of Uzbekistan, perception ofUzbekistan as an incentive destination. The survey showed the following results:Awareness and familiarity with UzbekistanTo find out the awareness, ITOs were asked if they have ever heard of Uzbekistanand if they knew which part of the world does Uzbekistan belong to? Fromresponses obtained 86 % of respondents never heard of Uzbekistan and 14 % ofrespondents have heard of the country from newspapers, TV and radio. 63 % ofrespondents indicated that Uzbekistan was located in Asia, 37 % of respondentslinked the location of the country to the former Soviet Union territory.Image of UzbekistanTo discover Uzbekistans image held by ITOs, they were asked what associationsUzbekistan had for them and which expressions they would use to characterize thecountry. A half of respondents indicated that they had no any associations aboutUzbekistan; the rest of respondents linked their associations to war in the CentralAsian region. The most frequent responses related to the characteristics of thedestination were mysterious (5), spice route(4), Tashkent (2), Samarkand(6),former member of the USSR (6), war(4), not economically sound (3),poor(3).Perception of Uzbekistan as an incentive destinationTo find out the perception of Uzbekistan as an incentive destination, ITOs wereasked which features of the destination they would find appealing for incentive56award winners and if they would choose Uzbekistan as the destination forincentive programme and why. 96 % of respondents could not indicate anydestination features which might be appealing and 4 % of respondents believed thatthe scenery and the culture might be appealing for incentive travelers, howeverthey stressed that they have had little knowledge of the country in order to makejudgments. Almost all respondents replied that they would not choose Uzbekistan asan incentive destination stating the following reasons:1. Absence of knowledge about the destination (4)2. Difficult to answer unless visited the country to see it has to offer (1)3. The destination has no appeal and it wont motivate (2)4. Poor country offering little in the way of incentive travel (1)The responses obtained from the small sample survey lead to the followingconclusion:Uzbekistan is unknown country for British ITOs. Newspapers, TV and radio are theonly sources of information which bring knowledge about the country and influenceon their opinions about the destination. The image of Uzbekistan is poor andinfluenced by the Soviet Union brand, political and economical instability ofCentral Asian region. The Silk Road brand is still weak to place Uzbekistan in thefavorable position in the global tourism market. British ITOs do not perceiveUzbekistan as an incentive destination because they have no knowledge about thecountry and its potential for incentive travels.574.4. SWOT table of key findingsInternalStrengths WeaknessesOpening up international standardhotelsGood international air transportlinksGood travel infrastructureRich urban heritageFriendly and hospitable peopleInteresting natureTechnological improvement incommunicationDestabilization of the politicalsituation in the destinationSlow economic growthCorruption is an obstacle fordevelopment and progressVisa and entrance process iscomplicatedEcological pollution in the Aralsea regionBad roads and old coachesShortage of internationallyacceptable catering facilitiesExternalOpportunities ThreatsLocation at the cross-roads ofEurope and Asia, and in the pastthe cross-roads of the Great SilkRoadInternational travelers are seekingundiscovered and authenticexperiencesThere is a growth in long-haultrafficIncentive market is growingAsia is becoming the hot spot forincentives and meetingsNeighborhood with politicallyunstable countriesIncreased competition fromother Asian incentivedestinationsUnfavorably created image ofthe country in the westernmindsAbsence of knowledge aboutthe destinationVery low profile of Uzbekistaninternationally58V CHAPTERCONCLUSION59In this chapter the findings of the research are presented and the main conclusions ofthe paper are summarized. The findings of the present research are based on differenttypes of analysis. The PEST analysis, evaluation of tourism resources base of thedestination, the study of the destination image and SWOT analysis have been done inorder to answer the overall research question and confirm or reject the hypothesis.The findings are categorized and discussed according to the basic criteria theincentive destination must fulfill.Image (name recognition)Uzbekistan is unknown destination for incentive travelers. The overall destinationimage is found not positive and not strong enough to stimulate the incentiveparticipants interest. The brand Silk Road was created by WTO for the destinationto emphasize its identity and differentiate it from the other competitor destinations.However, the destination brand is not yet internationally recognized and not enoughpowerful to appeal incentive travelers. Low degree of recognition of Uzbekistan canbe seen also as an advantage: the more unknown the destination, the more exotic andattractive it is.SafetyPolitical instability of neighboring Afghanistan and Tadjikistan and destabilization ofpolitical situation in Uzbekistan are the main factors which makes the destinationunsafe for incentive travelers. These factors exist on the global and national leveland therefore cannot be controlled.60AccessibilityUzbekistan is accessible to main European incentive markets due to regularinternational flights between Tashkent and European capitals. The travelinfrastructure is relatively good in the destination.Destination detailsFrom the detailed examination of tourism resources in Uzbekistan it is evident thatthe destination possesses the necessary potential for the development of incentivetravels. Natural and cultural attractions, variety of activity resources, suitableaccommodation and good travel infrastructure are able to contribute to theconstruction of an effective incentive programme in the destination. Shortcomingsare found in the entry requirements to the destination, quality of catering services andquality of roads.From the findings of the paper it is obvious that Uzbekistan possesses the internalpotential for the development of incentive travels. However, the external factors suchas political and economical instability of the Central Asian region, poor image of thedestination are the main barriers that make this potential unutilized. The hypothesisof the present research have been confirmed as the future of incentive travels inUzbekistan depends on the degree of political stability of the destination, level ofeconomic development , attraction power and perception (image) of the destination.The incentive-travel industry in Uzbekistan is in its early development stage andneeds changes and improvements to be done for its further development. As apriority, the image of Uzbekistan as the Silk Road destination should be promoted61more aggressively in consumer media , such as television, radio, newspapers andmagazines, etc., highlighting its best features and revealing the potential of thecountry. Visa requirements have to be relaxed in order to ease any type of touristarrival to the destination. All suppliers - hotels, restaurants, transportationcompanies, incentive tour operators, leisure centres - have to be aware of the specialrequirements of incentive travel and have to perform to the point of perfection.Hotels have to provide special check-in facilities for incentive travel groups,personalized service, souvenirs and gifts. Transport companies have to make surethat they guarantee safety of incentive group transportation. Catering facilities needsfurther improvement: better range of restaurants, cafes and acceptable bars offering arange of meals and beverages at competitive prices in clean, comfortable andattractive surroundings. Restaurant and cafe operators from other countries andcultures should also be encouraged to develop their own enterprises at main touristlocations. For incentive tour operators, creativity is an important consideration ingenerating new ideas for incentive travels.The objectives of the present paper have been achieved. However, if the researchwere to be done again, the different approach to study the image of the destinationwould have been taken. The face-to-face interviews would have been used as atechnique of data collection generating high response rates and providing withcomplete information. It is suggested as well to carry out the research on theperception of Uzbekistan as an incentive destination in the other European incentivetravel markets in order to get different opinions and ideas about the future ofincentive travels in the destination.62VI BIBLIOGRAPHY63Books1. Ashworth, G., and Goodall, B., (1990) Marketing Tourism Places. London,Routledge.2. Davidson, R., (1994) Business Travel. Harlow, Longman3. Evans, N., Campbell, D., and Stonehouse, G., (2003) Strategic Managementfor Travel and Tourism. Oxford, Butterworth Heinemann4. Finn, M., Elliot-White, M., and Walton, M., (2000) Tourism & LeisureResearch Methods. Harlow, Longman5. Godfrey, K., and Clarke, J., (2000) The tourism development book. Apractical approach to planning and marketing. London, Cassel6. Howie, F., (2003) Managing the Tourist Destination. London, Continuum7. Laws, E., (1995) Tourist Destination Management. London, Routledge8. Morgan, N., Pritchard, A., and Pride, R., (2002) Destination branding.Oxford, Butterworth-Heinemann9. Pearce. D., (1989) Tourist Development. Harlow, Longman10. Reich, Z. Allen, (1999) Positioning of Tourist Destinations. Champaign,Sagamore.11. Swarbrooke, J., and Horner, S., (2002) Business Travel and Tourism. GreatBritain, The Bath Press12. Tribe, J., (1997) Corporate Strategy for Tourism. London, InternationalThomson Business Press64Articles1. Mehta, Subhash C.; Loh, James C.M.; Mehta, Sanjay S. (1991) Incentive-Travel Marketing: the Singapore approach. Cornell Hotel andrestaurant Administration Quarterly.2. Carrol, J., Gossett, J., and OMalley, S., (2004) Choosing a destination.Incentive. New York: 2004. pg.363. Welsh Sara J., (2004) Enter the Dragon. Successful Meetings, Dec.2004,Vol. 53 Issue 13, p41, 3p, 8cInternet sites1. Madjidov, M., (2003) Tourism Infrastructure Market of Uzbekistanavailable from http://www.bisnis.doc.gov/bisnis/bisdoc/040105UZtour.htm2. Horak, S., (2003) Central Asia: Problems and Perspectives ofInternational Tourism available fromhttp://slavomirhorak.euweb.cz/konference_Tabor2004.htm3. American Chamber of Commerce (2003) Uzbekistan, a great potential tobe unlocked. Recommendations for an enhanced tourism strategy inUzbekistan available fromhttp://www.bisnis.doc.gov/bisnis/bisdoc/0308UZ_TourismENG.htm4. World Tourism Organization, WTO Silk Road Project available fromhttp://www.world-tourism.org/projects/silkroad/silkroad.html65Consulted libraries1. In SwedenLibrary of Hgskolan, Borlnge2. In FranceUniversity library, Chambery3. In the UKUniversity Library, Bournemouth66VII APPENDICES67APPENDIX IMap: Central AsiaSource: www.orexCA.com68APPENDIX IIMap: Republic of UzbekistanSource: www.orexCA.com69APPENDIX IIIMap: Silk Road countriesSource: www.orexCA.com70APPENDIX IVQUESTIONNAIRE1. Company informationCompany nameContact personCompany telephoneCompany faxCompany e-mail2. Have you ever heard of Uzbekistan? Please, tick your answer?Yes _ No3. From which source of information have you heard of Uzbekistan? Severalanswers are possible.?brochure ?TV?guide ?radio?tour operator ?Internet?newspaper ?friends and relatives?travel magazine ?personal visitation?book?other________________________4. Which part of the world does Uzbekistan belong to?_________________________________________________________________
Ethics and TourismA range of studies has now appeared within thetourism/hospitality literature, relating ethical understandingsto specific industry contexts: leisure studies(McNamee, Sheridan, & Buswell, 2001); tourism(Fennell, 1998); codes of ethics (Couglan, 2001);ecotourism(Malloy&Fennell, 1998a, 1998b). Tourism/hospitality ethics education has also seen a risein interest within the last decade. Vallen and Casado(2000) have suggested that there is a pressing needto prepare students to logically and ethically solveindustry dilemmas that they will undoubtedly encounter.There have now been a number of studiesexamining ethical decision-making styles withineducational contexts (Enghagen & Hort, 1992: Hall& Enghagen, 1991; Kent, Liam, Kahn, & Anene,1993; Wheeler, 1994). Stevens (2001) has examinedthe responses of human resource managers and hospitalitystudents to a range of ethical scenarios thatinclude issues such as theft, racial prejudice, keepinggifts, and false accusations; she reports that bothhuman resource managers and students rated the actof theft the most unethical, followed by sexual harassment,and then an attempt to obtain proprietyinformation. Finally, she makes the point that a greatdeal still needs to be understood with respect to thebasic assumptions and manner by which studentsgo about making their ethical decisions.The Derivation of Ethical BeliefsEthics, until the latter half or the 20th century,was basically the domain of two major theories: utilitarianismand Kantian or deontological philosophy.Deontological theory arose, in large measure, fromthe works of the 18th century philosopher ImmanualIDEAL ETHICAL BELIEFS 213Kant; utilitarianism is generally associated with theworks of philosophers Jeremy Bentham and J. S.Mill. In recent years, virtue ethics has come to representan approach to ethics highlighting ethicalcharacter; such a view is in clear contrast to the approachesthat emphasize rules and duties(deontological) or an emphasis upon the consequencesof a citizen's action (utilitarianism). Virtueethics would seek to emphasize the character of theperson in the understanding of any ethical action.Commentators such as Hursthouse (1997) suggestthat virtue ethics is both an old and a new theory:old in that it may be traced back to Socrates, Plato,and Aristotle, and new in that it has been revived inthe second part of the 20th century.Aristotle suggested that virtues are general traitsof character revealed in habitual actions. Pincoffs(1996) has argued that Aristotelian virtues can bemore precisely defined as traits of character manifestedin habitual actions that are said to be good fora person to have. While Aristotle argued that manyvirtues may be identified, Rachels (1995) has distinguishedfour virtues from Aristotle's work thatare held to be of prime importance in daily life: courage,generosity, honesty, and loyalty to family,friends, and close associates. Rachels (1998) makesthe point that the major virtues are determined notby social convention or fashion, but rather by basicfacts about the common human condition. This researchhas sought to explore the applicability of fourmajor Aristotelian values of courage, generosity,honesty, and loyalty among potential tourism/hospitalityindustry employees, as they are perceived tobe esteemed by visitors, tourism industry staff andmanagement, and also may mediate industry employmentcontext preferences.MethodSubjectsThe sample for this study comprised 493 studentsenrolled in years 11 and 12 in a number of state highschools from the Cairns region of Northern Australia.The survey was conducted during August and September,when many were considering postsecondary collegestudy or employment options. Ross (1995, 1997,1998) reports that there is a high level of interest amongsecondary college graduates in tourism/hospitality industrymanagement employment.MeasuresStudents rated each of the following ethical precepts,according to how important they believed themto be rated by tourism/hospitality industry staff, bytourism/hospitality industry management, and byvisitors, and, finally, how important they personallyregarded them to be. The four ethical value preceptsrepresent the notions as suggested by Aristotle andPincoffs (1996), and have also appeared in the writingsof both Rokeach and Feather; furthermore, eachethical precept was adapted to the tourism/hospitalityindustry workplace context, particularly as eachprecept may be interpreted within a service qualityframework (Noe, 1999). The four precepts ratedwere: being friendly, being honest, being frank, andbeing helpful. They were rated on a 5-point scalewith 5 = important and 1 = unimportant.Respondents were also requested to rate each ofthe following work context preferences: mining,manufacturing, forestry, high technology, rural, lightindustries, tourism, heavy industries, service industries,transport, government, education, commerce/finance, retail, and hospitality. These were rated ona 5-point scale with 5 = highly preferred and 1 = notpreferred at all. Age and gender of all respondentswere also recorded.ProcedureThe instrument was distributed among the majorstate high schools in the Far North Queensland regionof Australia and administered to students duringclass hours by a careers counselor in each school;the nonresponse rate was less than 11%.
UzbekistanFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopediaJump to: navigation, search Republic of UzbekistanOzbekiston Respublikasi
FlagEmblem
Anthem:Ozbekiston Respublikasining Davlat Madhiyasi
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Capitaland largest cityTashkent4116N 6913E / 41.267N 69.217E / 41.267; 69.217
Official languagesUzbek
Recognised regionallanguagesKarakalpak
Ethnicgroups (1996) 81.1% Uzbek 5.4% Russian 4.0% Tajik 3.0% Kazakh 2.5% Karakalpak 1.5% Tatar 2.5% others[1]
DemonymUzbek
GovernmentUnitary presidential state
-PresidentIslam Karimov
-Prime MinisterShankar Mirziyoyev
LegislatureSupreme Assembly
-Upper houseSenate
-Lower houseLegislative Chamber
Independence from the Soviet Union
-Formation1747b
-Uzbek SSROctober 27, 1924
-DeclaredSeptember 1, 1991
-RecognizedDecember 8, 1991
-CompletedDecember 25, 1991
Area
-Total447,400km2 (56th)172,742sqmi
-Water(%)4.9
Population
-2013estimate30,183,400[2][3] (41st)
-Density61.4/km2 (136th)159.1/sqmi
GDP(PPP)2012estimate
-Total$103.212 billion.[4]
-Per capita$3,536.[4]
GDP(nominal)2012estimate
-Total$51.979 billion[4]
-Per capita$1,780[4]
Gini(2000)26.8low 95th
HDI (2010)0.617[5]medium 102nd
CurrencyUzbekistan som (O'zbekiston so'mi) (UZS)
Time zoneUZT (UTC+5)
-Summer(DST)not observed(UTC+5)
Drives on theRight
Calling code+998
ISO 3166 codeUZ
Internet TLD.uz
a.Official Uzbek statistics.[citation needed]
b.As the Emirate of Bukhara, Kokand Khanate, and Khwarezm.
Uzbekistan (U.S. pronunciation: i/z.bk..stn/, U.K. pronunciation: i/z.bk..stn/), officially the Republic of Uzbekistan (Uzbek: Ozbekiston Respublikasi, ) is a landlocked country in Central Asia. Before 1991, it was part of the Soviet Union.Once part of the Persian Samanid and later Timurid empires, the region which today includes the Republic of Uzbekistan was conquered in the early 16th century by nomads who spoke an Eastern Turkic language. This region was subsequently incorporated into the Russian Empire in the 19th century, and in 1924 it became a boundaried constituent republic of the Soviet Union, known as the Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic (Uzbek SSR). It subsequently became the independent Republic of Uzbekistan on 31 August 1991 (officially, from the following day). Most of Uzbekistans population today belong to the Uzbek ethnic group and speak the Uzbek language, one of the family of Turkic languages.Uzbekistan's economy relies mainly on commodity production, including cotton, gold, uranium, and natural gas. Despite the declared objective of transition to a market economy, Uzbekistan continues to maintain economic controls, which deter foreign investment and imports and benefit domestic 'import substitution'. The policy of a gradual, strictly controlled transition to the market economy has nevertheless produced beneficial results in the form of economic recovery after 1995. Uzbekistan's domestic policies on human rights and individual freedoms have been criticised by some international organizations.[6]Contents[hide] 1 Geography 2 Environment 3 History 4 Politics 5 Human rights 6 Provinces and districts 7 Economy 8 Demographics 8.1 Largest cities 8.2 Religion 8.2.1 Jewish community 8.3 Languages 9 Communications 10 Transportation 11 Military 12 Foreign relations 13 Culture 13.1 Music 13.2 Education 13.3 Holidays 13.4 Cuisine 13.5 Sport 14 See also 15 References 15.1 Sources 15.2 Printed sources 16 External linksGeography[edit]Main article: Geography of UzbekistanSee also: List of cities in Uzbekistan
Satellite map of Uzbekistan.Uzbekistan has an area of 447,400 square kilometres (172,700sqmi). It is the 56th largest country in the world by area and the 42nd by population.[7] Among the CIS countries, it is the 5th largest by area and the 3rd largest by population.[8]Uzbekistan lies between latitudes 37 and 46 N, and longitudes 56 and 74 E. It stretches 1,425 kilometres (885mi) from west to east and 930 kilometres (580mi) from north to south. Bordering Kazakhstan and the Aral Sea to the north and northwest, Turkmenistan to the southwest, Tajikistan to the southeast, and Kyrgyzstan to the northeast, Uzbekistan is one of the largest Central Asian states and the only Central Asian state to border all the other four. Uzbekistan also shares a short border (less than 150km or 93mi) with Afghanistan to the south.Uzbekistan is a dry, landlocked country. It is one of two doubly landlocked countries in the world that is, a country completely surrounded by landlocked countries the other being Liechtenstein. In addition, due to its location within a series of endorheic basins, none of its rivers lead to the sea. Less than 10% of its territory is intensively cultivated irrigated land in river valleys and oases. The rest is vast desert (Kyzyl Kum) and mountains.The highest point in Uzbekistan is the Khazret Sultan, at 4,643 metres (15,233ft) above sea level, in the southern part of the Gissar Range in Surkhandarya Province, on the border with Tajikistan, just northwest of Dushanbe (formerly called Peak of the 22nd Congress of the Communist Party).[8]The climate in the Republic of Uzbekistan is continental, with little precipitation expected annually (100200 millimeters, or 3.97.9inches). The average summer high temperature tends to be 40C (104 F), while the average winter low temperature is around 23C (9 F).[9]Major cities include Andijan, Bukhara, Samarkand, Namangan and the capital Tashkent.Environment[edit]
Comparison of the Aral Sea between 1989 and 2008.Decades of questionable Soviet policies in pursuit of greater cotton production have resulted in a catastrophic scenario. The agricultural industry appears to be the main contributor to the pollution and devastation of the air and water in the country.[10]The Aral Sea used to be the fourth-largest inland sea on Earth, acting as an influencing factor in the air moisture and arid land use.[11] Since the 1960s, the decade when the misuse of the Aral Sea water began, it has shrunk to less than 50% of its former area and decreased in volume threefold. Reliable or even approximate data have not been collected, stored or provided by any organization or official agency. Much of the water was and continues to be used for the irrigation of cotton fields, a crop requiring a large amount of water to grow.[12]The question of who is responsible for the crisis remains open the Soviet scientists and politicians who directed the distribution of water during the 1960s, or the post-Soviet politicians who did not allocate sufficient funding for the building of dams and irrigation systems.[citation needed]Due to the Aral Sea problem, high salinity and contamination of the soil with heavy elements are especially widespread in Karakalpakstan, the region of Uzbekistan adjacent to the Aral Sea. The bulk of the nation's water resources is used for farming, which accounts for nearly 84% of the water usage and contributes to high soil salinity. Heavy use of pesticides and fertilizers for cotton growing further aggravates soil pollution.[9]History[edit]Main article: History of Uzbekistan
Female statuette wearing the kaunakes. Chlorite and limestone, Bactria, beginning of the 2nd millennium BC.
Alexander the Great at the Battle of Issus.The first people known to inhabit the Central Asian region of modern-day Uzbekistan were Iranian nomads who arrived from the northern grasslands of what is now Kazakhstan sometime in the first millennium BC. These nomads, who spoke Iranian dialects, settled in Central Asia and began to build an extensive irrigation system along the rivers of the region. At this time, cities such as Bukhoro (Bukhara), Samarqand (Samarkand) and Chash (Tashkent) began to appear as centers of emerging government and high culture. By the 5th century BC, the Bactrian, Soghdian, and Tokharian states dominated and ruled over the region.As China began to develop its silk trade with the West, Iranian cities took advantage of this commerce by becoming centres of trade. Using an extensive network of cities and rural settlements in the province of Mouwaurannahr (a name given the region after the Arab conquest) in Uzbekistan, and further east in what is today China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, the Soghdian intermediaries became the wealthiest of these Iranian merchants. Because of this trade on what became known as the Silk Route, Bukhoro and Samarqand eventually became extremely wealthy cities, and at the times Transoxiana (Mawarannahr) was the only large and one of the most influential and powerful Persian provinces of antiquity.[13]
Map of the Sassanid Empire.
Registan, Sher-Dor Madrasah
Russian troops taking Samarkand in 1868.Macedonian ruler Alexander the Great conquered Sogdiana and Bactria in 327 BC, marrying Roxana, daughter of a local Bactrian chieftain. A conquest was supposedly of little help to Alexander as popular resistance was fierce, causing Alexander's army to be bogged down in the region that became the northern part of the Hellenistic Greco-Bactrian Kingdom. For many centuries the region of Uzbekistan was ruled by the Persian empires, including the Parthian and Sassanid Empires, as well as by other empires, for example those formed by the Turkic Hephthalite and Gokturk peoples.In the 8th century Transoxiana (the territory between the Amudarya and Syrdarya rivers) was conquered by Arabs (Ali ibn Sattor), which enriched the region with the Early Renaissance. Many notable scientists have lived and contributed during the Islamic Golden Age. Among the achievements of the scholars during this period were the development of trigonometry into its modern form (simplifying its practical application to calculate the phases of the moon), advances in optics, in astronomy, as well as in poetry, philosophy, art, calligraphy and many others, which set the foundation for the Muslim Renaissance.In the 9th 10th centuries, Transoxiana was included into the Samanid State. Later, Transoxiana saw the incursion of the Turkic-ruled Karakhanids, as well as the Seljuks (Sultan Sanjar) and Kara-Khitans.[14]The Mongol conquest under Genghis Khan during the 13th century would bring about a change to the region. The Mongol invasion of Central Asia led to the displacement of some of the Iranian-speaking people of the region, their culture and heritage being superseded by that of the Mongolian-Turkic peoples who came thereafter. The invasions of Bukhara, Samarkand, and Urgench among others caused mass murders, such as when portions of Khwarezmia were completely destroyed.[15]Following the death of Genghis Khan in 1227, his empire was divided among his four sons and his family members. Despite the potential for serious fragmentation, the Mongol law of the Mongol Empire maintained orderly succession for several more generations, and control of most of Transoxiana stayed in the hands of the direct descendants of Chagatai Khan, the second son of Genghis Khan. Orderly succession, prosperity, and internal peace prevailed in the Chaghatai lands, and the Mongol Empire as a whole remained a strong and united kingdom. (Ulus Batiy, Sattarkhan)[16]In the early 14th century, however, as the empire began to break up into its constituent parts, the Chaghatai territory was disrupted as the princes of various tribal groups competed for influence. One tribal chieftain, Timur (Tamerlane),[17] emerged from these struggles in the 1380s as the dominant force in Transoxiana. Although he was not a descendant of Chinggis, Timur became the de facto ruler of Transoxiana and proceeded to conquer all of western Central Asia, Iran, Asia Minor, and the southern steppe region north of the Aral Sea. He also invaded Russia, Turkey, and Iraq, and placed under his command Iran and India, before dying during an invasion of China in
