The “Holiday Season 2025” report by Yandex offers a comprehensive snapshot of how Uzbekistan’s population plans, searches for, and ultimately purchases travel experiences in an increasingly digital environment. As travel interest surges both domestically and internationally, the role of income segmentation, gender dynamics, and platform behavior has become essential to understanding consumer decision-making.
A sector in acceleration
Uzbekistan’s tourism sector is experiencing marked growth, evidenced by an 8.2 million inbound tourist count in 2024 — a 24% increase compared to the previous year. Simultaneously, domestic hospitality indicators such as hotel and restaurant activity (HoReCa) rose by 11%, confirming robust demand both from foreign arrivals and local consumers. Among foreign markets, key inbound sources include Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Turkmenistan, Turkey, and China, underscoring Uzbekistan’s strategic position as a regional travel hub.
Search-driven tourism: when and how people plan
Tourism-related interest in Uzbekistan peaks from May to August, with different categories reflecting specific seasonality. Flight-related searches begin as early as January, but booking volume intensifies from May onward. Hotel searches are most active during the core summer months (June to August), while searches for children’s camps and excursions concentrate in May through July. Car rentals, bus tickets, and package tours show more stable demand across the warm season.
The rise in mobile-first planning cannot be overstated. The report shows that 66% of all travel-related queries originate from smartphones, further emphasizing the need for mobile-optimized content, seamless UX, and app-based services. Among these queries, hotels account for 33% of all searches, followed by tours (27%), airline tickets (24%), visa information (8%), and train travel (4%).
From interest to purchase: the flight booking journey
Airline ticket searches often mark the beginning of the vacation planning process for 35% of users. What’s noteworthy is the presence of strong brand association early in this phase: 29% of users begin their search with a branded query — for example, using names of specific airlines or booking platforms.
The path to conversion follows a relatively tight timeline. The average user takes approximately 6 days from their first query to engage with a booking platform, and about 9 days to complete a transaction. During this process, users explore an average of three different websites, indicating moderate but targeted exploration behavior before finalizing their decision.
Income segmentation and gender dynamics
One of the most revealing dimensions of the Yandex report is the intersection of income level with booking behavior. Although 70% of travel-related searches are made by men, women account for 65% of all confirmed bookings. This distinction suggests that men often serve as the information-seeking agents within households, while women act as the final decision-makers and converters.
Crucially, income level significantly correlates with purchasing behavior. Among users who proceed to complete bookings (referred to as “converters”), 45% are classified as having above-average income, with a clear segment identified as “premium.” This is further validated by Yandex Go user data, which indicates that 76% of travel-associated taxi users fall into the middle-income bracket. Together, these findings show that both middle- and upper-income audiences are the primary financial drivers of Uzbekistan’s tourism economy.
Brand awareness across categories
While brand strength plays a role in user behavior, it varies significantly across categories. In the tours segment, 41% of users begin their search with a specific brand in mind. For airline tickets, this figure stands at 29%. In contrast, brand-driven queries in hotel bookings and car rentals remain low — 8% and 3%, respectively. These disparities point to the importance of brand-building efforts, particularly in underdeveloped or highly competitive categories. For sectors with low brand recall, investment in digital visibility, display advertising, influencer marketing, and early-stage awareness campaigns is essential to secure position in the initial consideration set.
Domestic vs. international travel: priorities and preferences
Uzbekistan remains the most searched-for destination, capturing 37% of all tour-related queries in 2024. This affirms the continued strength of domestic tourism, though international interest is also notable: Russia (21%), Turkey (18%), and the Maldives (16%) follow closely in outbound search volume.
Accommodation preferences are becoming increasingly diversified. While hotels remain dominant, the report identifies significant seasonal spikes in searches for alternative lodging such as hostels, sanatoriums, and apartment-style rentals — especially in summer. Additionally, search interest for 2-star to 5-star hotels increased across all segments, suggesting rising consumer sophistication and demand for varied price tiers.
Geoservices as a travel companion
The use of Yandex Maps expands notably during the vacation season. Compared to baseline metrics, route-building activity grew by 102% in summer 2024. Travel-related destination searches — especially to children’s camps (+164%), campgrounds (+81%), and sanatoriums (+60%) — reflect both family-oriented travel and wellness-related leisure.
This trend supports the view that digital geolocation services are not only navigation tools but are increasingly becoming discovery engines. Branded pins, location-based recommendations, and map-integrated ads offer marketers a strategic opportunity to engage users close to the point of decision or arrival.
Lifestyle convergence: what people search for in summer
Tourism activity doesn’t exist in isolation; it intersects closely with seasonal lifestyle interests. The summer of 2024 showed marked increases in searches for aquaparks (+191%), recreation bases (+82%), children’s camps (+63%), and public parks (+17%). In parallel, consumer goods related to summer leisure — such as swimwear (+48%), insect repellents (+72%), and beer (+34%) — experienced significant surges.
These converging interests highlight the potential for bundled or thematically linked campaigns. Travel platforms and tourism authorities can amplify impact by aligning with related categories — such as retail, events, and family services — during peak season.
Taxis as the first and last mile
Yandex Go data underscores the functional role of taxis in the travel lifecycle. Users planning trips and using taxi services are predominantly male (79%) and aged 25–44 (60%). A striking 76% of this cohort is from the middle-income tier. This makes ride-hailing services both a logistical touchpoint and a marketing gateway — ideal for upselling travel add-ons, pushing loyalty offers, or reinforcing brand presence at the beginning and end of a journey.
Strategic implications
The Yandex 2025 travel report reveals a clear shift: Uzbekistan’s tourism market is now shaped by digitally literate, mobile-first, income-sensitive, and brand-aware consumers. The influence of income level is particularly noteworthy. Middle-income users dominate the awareness phase and rely heavily on mobile and map services, while high-income and premium users make up a disproportionately large share of final conversions.
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