The Role of Digital, Financial, and Institutional Innovation in Modernising Tourism Services in Samarkand
Abstract
This study examines the influence of innovative strategies on the quality and efficiency of service provided by tourism enterprises in Samarkand, Uzbekistan. Digital technology adoption, smart infrastructure, human capital, access to financial innovation, and institutional support are all assessed in this study using multivariate regression analysis on firm-level data from 2022 to 2024, hence influencing a composite Service Performance Index. Every variable shows positive and statistically significant relationships, illustrating that in transition economies, innovation is vital in enhancing tourism service results. The findings offer important new ideas for strategic investment in tourist innovation systems and policy change.
References
A. Arabov, O. Tursunov, and K. Umarov, “Assessing the efficiency of hotels in Uzbekistan’s ancient cities,” Journal of Tourism Research, vol. 12, no. 2, pp. 101–115, 2024.
D. Buhalis and A. Amaranggana, “Smart tourism destinations: Enhancing tourism experience through personalisation of services,” in Information and Communication Technologies in Tourism 2015, Springer, 2015, pp. 377–389.
W. M. Cohen and D. A. Levinthal, “Absorptive capacity: A new perspective on learning and innovation,” Administrative Science Quarterly, vol. 35, no. 1, pp. 128–152, 1990.
A. M. Hjalager, “A review of innovation research in tourism,” Tourism Management, vol. 31, no. 1, pp. 1–12, 2010.
N. Ibrokhimov and I. S. Khusanovich, “AI and big data analytics in Uzbekistan’s tourism: A case study of Samarkand,” Academic Journal of Digital Economics and Stability, vol. 37, no. 4, pp. 58–66, 2024.
O. Jalolov, “The benefits and future of using new generation digital technologies in the tourism industry,” American Journal of Economics and Business Management, vol. 8, no. 1, pp. 45–53, 2025.
J. A. Martínez-Román, J. A. Tamayo, and J. Gamero, “Innovativeness and business performance in tourism SMEs,” Annals of Tourism Research, vol. 54, pp. 118–135, 2015, doi: 10.1016/j.annals.2015.07.004.
D. Nasimov, “Improving methods for assessing the effectiveness of tourism infrastructure development,” E3S Web of Conferences, vol. 452, p. 07012, 2023.
OECD, OECD Tourism Trends and Policies 2020, Paris: OECD Publishing, 2021.
Z. Shokirov, “Improvement of the mechanisms of attracting innovations in the tourism sector of Uzbekistan,” Central Asian Journal of Innovations on Tourism Management and Finance, vol. 5, no. 2, pp. 34–42, 2024.
R. Rogers, Diffusion of Innovations, 5th ed., New York: Free Press, 2003.
J. B. Barney, “Firm resources and sustained competitive advantage,” Journal of Management, vol. 17, no. 1, pp. 99–120, 1991.
United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), “Tourism and innovation: Transforming the tourism experience,” UNWTO Report, 2020. [Online]. Available: https://www.unwto.org
Ministry of Tourism and Cultural Heritage of the Republic of Uzbekistan, “Annual Tourism Development Report 2023,” Tashkent, 2024.
State Statistics Committee of Uzbekistan, “Regional data on tourism enterprises and infrastructure 2022–2024,” Tashkent, 2024.
Copyright (c) 2025 Shokirov Firdavs
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
In submitting the manuscript to the Central Asian Journal of Innovations on Tourism Management and Finance, the authors certify that:
- They are authorized by their co-authors to enter into these arrangements.
- The work described has not been formally published before, except in the form of an abstract or as part of a published lecture, review, thesis, or overlay journal.
- That it is not under consideration for publication elsewhere,
- The publication has been approved by the author(s) and by responsible authorities – tacitly or explicitly – of the institutes where the work has been carried out.
- They secure the right to reproduce any material that has already been published or copyrighted elsewhere.
- They agree to the following license and copyright agreement.
License and Copyright Agreement
Authors who publish with Central Asian Journal of Innovations on Tourism Management and Finance agree to the following terms:
- Authors retain copyright and grant the Central Asian Journal of Innovations on Tourism Management and Finance right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0) that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgment of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
- Authors can enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the Central Asian Journal of Innovations on Tourism Management and Finance published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or edit it in a book), with an acknowledgment of its initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) before and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work.
