Evaluating the effect of events on sustainable development of tourism in uzbekistan

Ethics in Research: the ethical conditions between participants and the researcher was provided when conducting qualitative and quantitative research.
Respondents were fully informed about the content and purpose of the survey before accessing the online survey link, that's why they were aware that they were free to refuse or refrain from participating. Thus, all of the participants in the research agreed to participate voluntarily and understood what was required of them.
By avoiding abbreviated expressions and using less complex words, the content of the questions was clear to the participant, as well as the explanation of the questions in accessible language was provided.
The interview procedure was discussed with the interviewees in advance. The results of the primary research are presented in this chapter. The results are divided into two categories: online survey and expert interviews. These results show the role and development of event tourism in Uzbekistan. These two methods helped to analyze the importance and current situation of events in the tourism industry of uzbekistan.
Analysis and Findings of Online Survey. During the survey, the impressions, expectations and opinions of tourists about the events are important as a quantitative analysis because it is impossible to imagine the term tourism without tourists. Therefore, the most important thing is to satisfy the tourists of the host country. In previous studies, it was not possible to accurately observe the role of tourists due to the lack of information about events in Uzbekistan. Thus, in order to clarify this issue, as mentioned earlier, an online survey was conducted among 50 tourists, including 30 (60%) international and 20 (40%) locals who attended the any event in Uzbekistan and were randomly selected.
According to the demographic questions, the ages of the respondents ranged from 18 to 56 or over: most of them were from 26 to 40 - 36%, 41-55 aged people was 34%, 18-25 aged travellers were just 16%, finally over the 56 aged was 14%. Piechart 3.1 shows the nationalities of the tourists surveyed, making it clear that people from around the world flock to events in Uzbekistan.
Figure 3.1. Nationalities of tourists participating in events in Uzbekistan.

Source: Author’s chart.
As shown in Figure 3.1, except the local travellers, most of them came from the
Kazakhstan respectively. Secondly, 3 (6% each) tourists were citizens of Turkey, Spain, Kyrgizistan, India, Germany, Afganistan equally. Travellers from Turkmenistan and Tajikistan accounted for just 2 (4%). In the last, Austrian,
Chineese, British and French were only 1 person each - 2%.
As for the occupation of tourists, 28% employees and self-employed took the first place, whereas 18% student, 16% retired and 10% of them were unemployed respectively. As for how many times a year the respondents traveled, it is interesting to note that the answers "5-6 times a year" 42% were most significant.
Considering that this was a multi-choice question (Figure 3.2), 18 people choose leisure, holiday trips which is a difference of 36%. Secondly, 11 (22%) of them selected festive trips such as clubbing and festivals. With these answers, it is already possible to see the advantage of the host country in event tourism. The less proportion was health & w ell-being 12% and business trips 14%.
Figure 3.2. Types of travel suitable for tourists.

Source: Author’s chart.
Then, a survey was conducted to find out what activities tourists prefer with multichoice questions in Figure 3.3. below, with a maximum of 30% interested in Cultural events. In sequence, educational events as well as businesses were 18% and 16% respectively, sport events accompanied by arts and entertainment (concert, ceremonies) were considere shaeply equal 12% each. Political events, on the other hand, showed the lowest percentage, with one person elected merely 2%. From this it can be concluded that travellers are more interested in leisure and entertainment activities.
Figure 3.3. More suitable types of events for respondents to travel.

Source: Author’s chart.
One of the most important things to consider about events is to inform people about them which explained in Figure 3.4 below. Depending on the source of information, Tourists received information about the event by Word of mouth play an important role in promoting events with 40% respectively. Second significant percentage accounted for 34%, undoubtedly received it from social media in everyday use. 8 travelers, 16%, received information about the event by Internet resources such as websites and articles. The lowest of the choices were television and posters & flyers with percentages - 8% and merely 2%. This suggests that as technology becomes increasingly important, efforts should be made to use it properly for advertising and promotion so that the necessary information is available to the public. This can affect the flow of tourists and increase efficiency.
By learning with whom the participants of the event were present, it was considered how many people could be involved here through one person. The results were close to each other, with 24% of friends, 22% of individuals, 20% of partners, 18% of family members, and 16% of people with the last and lowest percentage participating in the event. It can be said that a large number of people are involved in the event by others, which means an excellent result. The number of participants who visited Uzbekistan before the event was 66% with 33 participants. Here, too, thanks to the measures, it seems that there is a normal number of tourists visiting the country.
39 respondents mentioned they gave excellent marks about meeting the expectations of the event they attended in Uzbekistan. Seven people noted their expectations were met, while four tourists chose the option that the event did not live up to their expectations.
Figure 3.4. Sources from where tourists receive information about the event.

Source: Author’s chart.
Figure 3.5. Satisfaction level of tourists with the staff and volunteers in events.

Source: Author’s chart.
Figure 3.5 above shows the satisfaction level of tourists with the staff and volunteers in events, 52% (26 tourists) were very satisfied. 24% of them were satisfied, neutral answers were 14% and 6% (3 of them) selected dissatisfied option. Fortunately, none of them was completely dissatisfied with the staff and volunteers. The positive response from the majority indicates that the situation is good, but that some improvement is needed to make it better.
Care should be taken to ensure that guests do not face any difficulties at the event, and if this happens, it should be remedied with the help of staff or volunteers. 31 tourists who attended the event wrote they did not face any difficulties during the event. Three of them solved the problem through volunteers when they faced personal difficulties. One noted the equipment needed to be improved to make it more accessible, while another wrote the volunteer was misbehaving. Another had a problem with the supply of the hotel where he stayed, not during the event, and then the problem was solved. One tourist noted that he had a disagreement with people, and it is clear that this, like the other five people, is a matter of spoken language. According to the other three, they had language problems in the regions. As it is known, during the international major events there is an influx of tourists from all over the world to the host country, which naturally creates some difficulties with the spoken language. In the regions, English speakers are a minority compared to Bukhara. As Uzbekistan was part of the USSR in the past, Russian-speaking people predominate in the country. It can be said that Russian guests rarely face this problem during the event, and Russian tourists who took part in the survey did not have a problem with it. The same can be said for Turkish and Turkmen citizens that this language is closer to Uzbek language. The main language problems were Arabic, Italian, and Spanish. Three people mentioned that everything was fine or the event, but a little improvement in transport would be better. It should be noted that the improvement of routes was one of the most important factors, especially when developing the plan for Bukhara tourism events. People with problems have expressed this opinion due to traffic jams or technical reasons. Finally, 1 tourist noted that there was an environmental problem. As a result, the fact that the majority did not face difficulties can be considered a great success. Many of the other issues mentioned are natural. Transportation, the environment, access to events and hotels, and technical issues have been a challenge for several tourists, and the country is working to improve. For the development of tourism, educated and knowledgeable personnel are recruited, the number of new places and hotels, restaurants, recreation centers is increased. It is clear that during the event, the hosts are tourists traveling to other places and regions of the country. This is sometimes due to the appreciation of leisure time, sometimes to the discovery of new places, and sometimes to the holding of events such as sports in several cities and regions. According to the survey, 12 foreign tourists did not travel outside the venue due to time constraints or other reasons. Given that most of the events were held in Tashkent and that the respondents also attended TITF as spectators, they did not travel anywhere outside the capital Uzbekistan. During the event, 15 local tourists undoubtedly traveled to the suburbs of Tashkent and the regions, the list includes most regions of Uzbekistan, large or small, natural resources - lakes, sanatoriums, sports centers, etc. 11 people wrote that they did not go anywhere. 8 tourists noted that they visited the area around Tahkent, including Old City – Amir Timur square, Romanov palace, State history museum,  Alisher Navoi Opera & Ballet Theatre, Tashkent Sircus, Kukeldash Madrassah. Another 16 foreign tourists wrote that they traveled to the suburbs of Tashkent and regions of Uzbekistan individually or in groups, including Bekabat, Bostanliq, Chinaz, Piskent, Zangiata, Yangiyol and regions Samarkand, Khiva, Shakhrisabz, Bukhara and other cities and regions where tourists visited part of the event have come to see many museums, lakes, rivers, monuments for the purpose of watching or walking. As a result, more than half of the tourists surveyed visited several places and regions of Uzbekistan. This gives reason to say that there is interest in the country as a whole, and those international events and other festivals make a great contribution to the economy, social life and, most importantly, tourism.
Figure 3.6: Impressions of tourists about events in Uzbekistan

Source: Author’s chart
Figure 3.6 explains that tourists' views on events and event tourism in Uzbekistan
have yielded very positive results. Thus, the number of tourists who rated the situation in Uzbekistan as excellent was 6, and the number of those who agreed
with the good option was 36 tourists, 8 people are neutral with the situation. Fortunately, no respondent expressed a completely negative opinion. It can be concluded that the position of events in Uzbekistan is highly valued by tourists. This promotes the recognition of the host country in the world and the development of various fields.
After their impressions of Uzbekistan, 8 of those visitors thought they wanted to come here again and participate in the events, completely agreed, and wrote "Strongly agree" that they wanted to participate in the events in Uzbekistan again. There were enough people who chose "Agree" - 31 people. Eleven respondents chose "Neutral". It is very gratifying that no one disagreed or disagreed with this. According to the author, this host is one of the great successes for the country, as the country is becoming more and more popular and attracting more and more tourists.
As is well known, word of mouth also influences people's decisions and opinions.
The question of the extent to which the respondents would recommend Uzbekistan
to their relatives and friends also gave a positive result. Thus, exact 15 people - wrote that they completely agreed and would recommend people they know about traveling to Uzbekistan. Another 23 tourists chose the Agree option, while 12 mentioned they were neutral. Unfortunately, one of them chose the “Disagree” option. Finally, none of the respondents chose the most negative review "Completely disagree". Thus, the events and the host country become more popular.
Another statement was about accommodation and accessibility of the event, 16 of
the respondents noted they were very satisfied. 22 tourists agreed, 11 were neutral and 1 disagreed. The number of those who do not agree at all is 0. In other questions, respondents noted shortcomings in this regard. Just as nothing is perfect, a number of issues are obvious. Going back to a few years ago, Uzbekistan was a new country in the field of tourism, but it managed to do it quickly. Improving infrastructure, working on new routes, and providing information through social media and other means can help address other less common problems.
Figure 3.7 below provides answers to respondents' questions about the events taking place in Uzbekistan and the need for any improvement. The answer mentioned here 18 times was "Environmental". Fortunately, 17 respondents think that there was no need for improvement, that everything was fine. The same number of answers - 13 times - is aimed at providing information about the event, and the other 13 - that more improvements in terms of transport should be taken into account. 11 people noted the need to improve in the field of hospitality. 8 people offered to have educated, knowledgeable staff and volunteers. Finally, 7 people answered that the events will be more successful due to improvements in accommodation, accessibility and technical issues. As a result, some improvements are still needed. According to researcher, taking advantage of the current pandemic situation, especially with some improvements in hotel management and an increase in the number of accommodations, tourists will feel more comfortable and the number of satisfied customers will increase.
Figure 3.7. Suggestions made by tourists for the improvement of event tourism in
Uzbekistan.

Source: Author’s chart.
Figure 3.8. In Three selected events - The first (or not) event attended by respondents.

Source: Author’s chart
One of the interesting topics was whether the event in which respondents participated for the first time in one of these above selected events, where the answers were close - Figure 3.8 above 50% (5 people) answered that this was the first event they attended in Uzbekistan. 50% (5 viewers) answered "No" and noted that they participated in other events. As the first event attended by the majority was TITF 2022, it can be noted that this event has a great role in the tourism of Uzbekistan and is undoubtedly one of the important steps in event tourism. One of the most important factors when a participant has fun while participating in any event is that this event can give the participant new information and bring him/her something . As can be seen from Afandi day event that 40% of participants already taking place fore the second time that means it is not new to them. According to Figure 3.9 below, TITF helped 70% of tourists surveyed (7 participants) to gain new information and knowledge. 30% (3 people) chose that they did not get any new information from this event. In general, this event was useful for the majority of respondents. The positive impressions of many respondents show that the event was a success. Morever, Afandi day festival held in Bukhara is becoming more and more popular Because it attracts both domestic and international tourists. As can be seen from the bargraph above illustrating that already more than half of the tourists say they took new information during that event. It means that the festival has some new innovations and has a bright future. And the third local festival is considered new that’s why many tourists responded as it was their first event type experienced.
Figure 3.9. Providing respondents with new information or knowledge in three tourism events in 2022

Source: Author’s chart
During the event, all information must be properly conveyed to the guests, as explained in Figure 3.10, the number of those who are fully satisfied with all the information is 15, and the number of those who are satisfied with all the information is 24. 10 people chose to be neutral, and 1 person chose not to provide all of the information. Although most of the answers are good, it seems that a little more effort is needed to get a better result. Finally, it is important to find out whether the guests' general expectations and their expectations for BEG 2015 have been met. According to the responses, the event exceeded expectations for 14 people - "Strongly agree". Ten people remained neutral, and one wrote that the event did not meet his expectations. The fact that no respondent chose the idea of "Completely disagree" can be considered a very good result, but in order to complete the event more successfully and efficiently, it is necessary to eliminate some gaps.

There are a variety of yearly events held in Uzbekistan. They are very popular with the people and treated as holidays.Tourism events play an important role on tourism development of the country. They have major effects on the local economy also. Cultural tourism can be increased through development of local festivals and provide greater economic and cultural benefits to the local area. The visitors are attracted to these festivals from all over the world. For example “Silk and Spices”, “Shark Taronalari” festivals in Uzbekistan have become a major tourist attraction for the local, regional and international visitors. Every year thousands of local and international tourists visit these festivals. During their stay they spend for staying in hotels, eating in restaurants, using transportation services, moreover they use additional services as visiting festival parades, buying souvenirs, doing shopping. Spending on local goods and services by visitors can effect on increase of sales volume.

Furthermore festivals play an important role for the development of infrastructure of the country. For accepting thousands of tourists the touristic region should have opportunities and comfort for tourists to feel themselves well. That’s why local community try to develop all infrastructural objects before festivals. They make some decorations of the city, reconstruct some sights, renew central roads and so on.
Nowadays for attracting more tourists to our country Uzbekistan tourism department planning to organize different new festivals and events yearly. Expect Silk and spices festival in Bukhara, it was held “The day of Bukhara city”, and “Nasreddin Afandi” festivals this year. This shows the more events we are organizing the more tourists are being attracted and their visits are increasing.
Not only foreign tourists but also domestic tourists and local people are interested in visiting these kinds of festivals. For example there are lots of tourists come from different regions of Uzbekistan for participating in Silk and spices festival. They participate with their dancing, cooking skills, and bring different goods as silk, jewelry, spices for sale. Additionally some of them visit just as a tourist. This has a great effect on cultural tourism development. Even if we live in one country but each region have their own traditions. While they gather at one place different cultures can meet each other.
Table 3. Schedule of Uzbekistan tourism festivals and events