More than 50 countries have or are planning to introduce taxes on tourists. Tourist tax exists in almost all countries of the world engaged in tourism.

This is a local tax that goes to the development of tourism infrastructure. The stakes are different. Information about the tour fee is published on websites, in booklets and other information media. Therefore, when choosing a particular city in the world for recreation, a tourist must take these additional costs into account in their budget.

On August 2, the first meeting of the «APTA Networking Club» was held. Within the framework of the event, a wide range of issues that concern the travel industry and hinder the development of the tourism industry in our country were raised. In particular, problematic issues related to VAT, transport provision (pricing and logistics), participation in major exhibitions abroad and other support for the marketing activity of tour operators of Uzbekistan in foreign markets were raised. The issue related to the tourist tax, its size and effective use of the revenue part caused a lively discussion. Given the urgency of the issue, the Association of private tourism agencies of Uzbekistan (APTA) promptly organized a meeting with the participation of experts from the tourism industry of Uzbekistan on the topic «What should be the tour package in Uzbekistan?».

The regular meeting of experts of the APTA, including the heads of hotels and tour companies, was held as part of measures to modernize the tourism industry, develop and improve the regulatory framework for the sustainable development of the industry. The main task of the next meeting of experts (representatives of the tourism industry of Uzbekistan) was to develop a consolidated position on optimizing the tourist tax in Uzbekistan. As a result of the meeting, recommendations and proposals were prepared, which were sent to the State Committee of the Republic of Uzbekistan for tourism development for review and use.