In 2024, the average occupancy of branded hotels in Almaty, the largest city in Kazakhstan, and Tashkent, the capital and largest city in neighboring Uzbekistan, set new records as governments efforts to expand the inflow of foreign tourists are starting to pay off.
Kazakhstan's tourism industry has been booming since the end of the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2024, the country welcomed 2.3 million foreign visitors, compared with only 1.6 million in the previous year and 330,000 in 2021. As part of a tourism industry development program launched in 2023, the number of foreign tourists to Kazakhstan is projected to reach 4 million by 2030.
In 2024, the average occupancy in five-star hotels in Almaty reached 67.6%, while in four-star hotels occupancy reached 64.9% and in three-star hotels reached 73.8%, according to the Bureau of National Statistics.
During the high summer season, Almaty has been experiencing a shortage of hotel room capacity for at least the last three years, said Evgeniy Bumagin, CEO of IBC Real Estate in Kazakhstan.
“Hotel occupancy in Almaty is higher than in Moscow. Hotels are twice as expensive,” he said.
In Uzbekistan, the growth trend is even larger. The number of foreign visitors to Uzbekistan has jumped eightfold since the pandemic, now totaling 8.2 million. Under its tourism plan approved by President Shavkat Mirziyoyev in 2023, that figure is predicted to rise to 15 million by 2030.
Both Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan are on the famed Silk Road, the medieval trading route that spanned Beijing to Venice. Yet Kyrgyzstan, also known as the Kyrgyz Republic, is not visited by international travelers as much as its two neighbors are. Kyrgyzstan has made some progress in developing adventure and ecotourism, but it's a niche that makes little contribution to hotel performance.
Svetlana Balankina, general manager of the 41-room DiliMah Premium Luxury Hotel in Samarkand, Uzbekistan — which sits directly on the Silk Road — said in the past several years hoteliers and tourists have seen “colossal improvements” in Uzbekistan.
“The state’s subsidies for the construction of high-class hotels have paved the way for the opening of quality establishments with top-notch services,” Balankina said, adding that public safety has been improved and popular tourism attractions have been renovated and restored.
More tourism demand and competition among hotels has resulted in hoteliers needing to work diligently to keep their rooms filled.
“The market is becoming increasingly competitive. New international brands are emerging, [and] the quality of local players is improving,” said Aziza Tulyaganova, marketing executive at the 216-room InterContinental Tashkent.
Among the key challenges hoteliers are facing as the lack of labor, especially at the luxury end, and the requirement to match higher standards seen in other parts of the world, Tulyaganova said.
“Visitors have become more demanding and expect an international level of service. This is both a challenge and an opportunity,” she said. “We are positive about the future: We expect further growth in inbound tourism, a strengthening of Uzbekistan’s position on the global stage and the expansion of opportunities for the hotel business.”
Hotel growth
In Kazakhstan, hotel investors are primarily interested in the cities of Almaty and Astana and the southern resorts, which are the most popular destinations among foreign visitors, said Semyon Yurchenko, a partner in the Almaty office of Cushman & Wakefield. In recent years, the hospitality opportunities of Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan have been noticed by the world’s largest international hotel chains, he added.
“Hilton and Marriott International are already actively working [in Kazakhstan], and new facilities are being built,” Yurchenko said. “In Uzbekistan, the pace of development is even higher, and Hyatt Hotels Corporation and Accor brands have entered the country, a Ritz-Carlton is being built and the number of boutique hotels and cultural tourism attractions are on the rise,” he added.
Tulkin Radjabov, general manager of the 55-room Hotel Marwa Tashkent Pool & Spa, said that over the last several years business has been “on a roll for most of the hotels” in Uzbekistan.
“We do feel the support of the government’s industry development program,” Radjabov said. "Simplification of the visa regime, development of transport infrastructure and active promotion of Uzbekistan in the international arena have already led to increased interest from both foreign and domestic tourists."
For years, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan primarily lured visitors from the countries of the post-Soviet space, mainly Russia. However, recent years have seen a rise in tourism flow from alternative destinations, such as the Middle East and Asia, Tulyaganova said.
According to CoStar hospitality data, hotel performance in recent years has been mixed across Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan.
During the first half of 2025, Kazakhstan saw a 3.5% year-over-year rise in hotel occupancy to 58.2%, a 3% increase in average daily rate to $115.97 and a 6.5% increase in revenue per available room to $67.54. In Kyrgyzstan, hotel ADR increased 7.9% to $121.23 during the first half of the year and RevPAR increased 1.4% to $65.08 but occupancy dropped 6% to 53.7%.
In Uzbekistan during the first six months of 2025, hotel occupancy increased 4.5% to 53.4%, ADR grew 7.8% to $131.13 and RevPAR jumped 12.6% to $70.01. Hotel performance in Uzbekistan rebounded significantly from 2024. In the first half of that year, occupancy was only 51.1% — a 7.2% drop from the first six months of 2023 — while ADR fell 10% to $121.69 and RevPAR dropped 16.5% to $62.17.
Balankina said increased supply in Tashkent and Samarkand could explain some of that fall, adding that occupancy for the first six months of 2025 compared with 2024 at her hotel has moved up 300 basis points.
Persisting challenges
Even in Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, the hospitality and tourism industry development has remained somewhat uneven.
Yurchenko said Kazakhstan's hospitality industry suffers from a clear imbalance, with Almaty and Astana needing more supply, while most parts of the country lack visitors. He added Kazakhstan does not have the major renovation programs in place that Uzbekistan does, and even if significant funds are being spent on industry development, the results are not always clear.
“This also includes problems with transparency. We do not see reports on the use of funds allocated for tourism,” Yurchenko said.
Across Tajikistan and Turkmenistan — the two other countries in Europe’s Central Asia region — no noticeable steps of any kind have been put in place to boost their tourism and hotel industries. Yet both these nations have unlocked potential, Yurchenko said.
“Tajikistan and Turkmenistan could make significant progress in developing tourism if they followed the path of Uzbekistan: openness, simplification of the visa regime, active promotion in international markets, development of domestic services and state support,” he said.
Under the present conditions, the return on investment into the construction of new hotels in Turkmenistan remains questionable, Yurchenko said.