Exploring the vital role of human resource management in the progress of Uzbekistan’s tourism sector

Figures & data

Figure 1. Travelers in Uzbekistan. Source: Statistical Committee of the Republic of Uzbekistan (2019).

Figure 2. Tourism Companies. Source: Statistical Committee of the Republic of Uzbekistan (2019).

Table 1. Touristic resources. Source: Statistical Committee of the Republic of Uzbekistan (2019).

	2017	2018	2019
Museums	121	97	100
Theatres	50	50	50
Concert halls	67	66	72
Circus	1	1	1
Parks	189	193	192
Zoos	3	3	3

Table 2. Location of tour companies. Source: Statistical Committee of the Republic of Uzbekistan (2019).

Location	Tour operators	Tour agents
Tashkent city and region	253	93
Samarkand	56	12
Bukhara	23	14
Other regions	44	22
Total	376	141

Table 3. Graduates in the field of tourism and hospitality. Source: Statistical Committee of the Republic of Uzbekistan (2019).

For higher education	2016	2017	2018	2019
Student intakes in the current year	512	597	865	1507
Total number of students	1731	1932	1628	2799
The total amount of graduates in the current year	358	457	195	174

Table 4. Methodological Framework. Source: Authors (2023).

	Source of data	Method of Collection / Sample Size	Aims
1	The State Committee for Tourism Development of Uzbekistan	Face-to-face in-depth interview with the Deputy Chairman	-Identify tourism development potential -Identifying main challenges and opportunities -Skills and professions needed for the industry
2	Association of Private Travel Organizations	Face to face in-depth interview with the chairman	-identifying industry needs (skills development vise)
3	THE TOURISMOLOG (Consultant in Tourism and Hospitality industry)	Number of Expert interviews with the founder/director over the phone/online	-identifying segments in the industry to target
4	Interviews with industry experts (working in the tourism and hospitality sphere)	Online/phone/face-to-face semi-structured interviews (N = 15)	-gaining industry insights, needs -preferences for professional development -industry
5	Quantitative survey (Online)	Companies in the tourism and hospitality sector (N = 55)	-evaluating skill shortages, -identifying skills gaps -identifying the most demanded jobs in the industry where there is a lack of professionals -identifying current habits and preferences when it comes to professional development

Figure 3. Respondents by job role. Source: Authors.

Figure 4. Hotel Categories. Source: Authors (2023).

Figure 5. Professional development methods. Source: Authors (2023).

Figure 6. Staff needs (Tour Companies). Source: Authors (2023).

Figure 7. Staff needs (Hotels). Source: Authors (2023).

Table 5. Main constraints faced in hiring experienced professionals. Source: Authors (2023).

List of constraints:	Tour firms	Hotels
Lack of industry knowledge	61%	54%
Lack of necessary experience	58%	46%
Lack of customer interaction skills (internal and/or external)	35%	50%
Reward expectations are too high	42%	38%
Lack of business acumen	39%	21%
The general shortage of candidates	32%	29%
Lack of knowledge of a foreign language	23%	33%
Lack of leadership qualities	26%	25%
Lack of project management skills	23%	25%
Lack of business management skills	16%	29%
Lack of knowledge of modern technology (for example Microsoft office)	10%	33%
Lack of certificates and/or diploma	19%	13%

Table 6. Tourism in segments/stakeholders. Source: Authors.

Segments	Description	Estimated size
Segment 1: Tour firms	Directors and mid-level managers of tour firms, or entrepreneurs.	517 companies (see Figure 2)
Segment 2: Hotels	3+ star hotel staff	104 hotels
Segment 3: Government organizations	Employees of Uzbek Tourism in every region.	400+ employees
Segment 4: Suppliers of tourism services	Suppliers of tourism services – transportation (railroad, airways, tour buses, etc)	500+ employees
Segment 5: Infrastructure	Tourism infrastructure – galleries, museums, attractions, visitor centres.	418 employees
Segment 6: Restaurants and cafes.	Restaurant of a premium and super-premium class.	200 employees

Table 7. Skill development for stakeholders. Source: Authors.

Segments	Description	Skill development Programs
Segment 1: Tour firms	Directors and mid-level managers of tour firms, or entrepreneurs.	Skill-specific Certificate programs in collaboration with local universities or online learning programs.
Segment 2: Hotels	3+ star hotel staff	Management Skills Training -Industry experts from hotel chains -Marriot/Hyatt.
Segment 3: Government organizations	Employees of Uzbek Tourism in every region.	Expert Training and research-led projects with The World Tourism Organization/Tourism funded projects in Uzbekistan.
Segment 4: Suppliers of tourism services	Suppliers of tourism services – transportation (railroad, airways, tour buses, etc)	Training on digitization of services and promotion. Experts from Booking.com or Agoda.com
Segment 5: Infrastructure	Tourism infrastructure – galleries, museums, attractions, visitor centres.	Training experts from organizations such as the European Museum Forum /International Council of Museums.
Segment 6: Restaurants and cafes.	Restaurant of a premium and super-premium class.	Experts from Michelin-star restaurants.

Data availability statement

The datasets used and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.