Sustainability expenditure and ecotourism enterprise performance in the Bukhara region of Uzbekistan: a descriptive mixed-methods analysis, 2018–2024

This Brief Research Report investigates the association between sustainability expenditure and ecotourism enterprise performance in the Bukhara region of Uzbekistan, a region combining a UNESCO-listed historic center with Kyzylkum desert, Zarafshan riverine, and Lake Dengizkul Ramsar ecosystems. We address a documented gap in the Central Asian literature: the absence of enterprise-level evidence linking sustainability spending to revenue outcomes for ecotourism Limited Liability Companies (Mas'uliyati cheklangan jamiyat—MChJ). A mixed-methods design was used. Annual revenue records for 15 ecotourism enterprises operating from 2018 to 2024 were compiled, of which two anchor enterprises also provided full itemized expenditure records that permitted computation of a ratio-based Sustainability Expenditure Index (ESId), classified on a five-level scale grounded in the Global Sustainable Tourism Council pillars. Twelve semi-structured expert interviews (November 2024–February 2025) provided qualitative triangulation for the remaining thirteen comparison enterprises. The ESId instrument achieved acceptable expert-panel content validity (Content Validity Index = 0.88). Descriptive evidence indicates that the two anchor enterprises—LLC “Kyzylkum Eco Camp” (ESId = 0.61, Level 4 in 2024) and LLC “Sentyab Mountain Eco Lodge” (ESId = 0.42, high Level 3)—also recorded the highest absolute revenue and the most consistent year-on-year growth among the cohort. Aggregate revenue across the 15 enterprises rose from approximately US$565,000 in 2018 to US$1.35 million in 2024, with a 2019–2020 contraction of approximately 68 per cent mirroring the national COVID-19 collapse from 6.75 million international arrivals in 2019 to 1.50 million in 2020. The study cautions against causal interpretation and proposes longitudinal panel designs with full itemized expenditure data for the broader cohort as a next step.

Hali tarjima qilinmagan