THE STRATEGIC ROLE OF MEGA EVENTS AND SPECIALIZED FORUMS IN SUSTAINABLE TOURISM
Keywords:
Event tourism, sustainable hospitality, artificial intelligence, destination branding, foreign investment, smart tourism, regional developmentAbstract
The global travel and hospitality industry undergoes continuous academic and structural evolution. This research paper investigates the strategic execution of event tourism and its capacity to generate socioeconomic growth for host destinations. By conducting a comparative analysis of three distinct event typologies namely International Expos specialized HoReCa exhibitions and intellectually driven Hotel Business Forums this study delineates their specific contributions to regional infrastructure and technological modernization in the Republic of Uzbekistan. Utilizing empirical observations from the 2026 hospitality landscape in Central Asia the paper examines how these platforms facilitate the integration of Artificial Intelligence and optimize the hospitality supply chain. The findings indicate that while macro scale events establish long term destination branding specialized professional forums catalyze immediate operational upgrades and intellectual capital accumulation.
References
1. Buhalis, D., & Amaranggana, A. (2013). Smart tourism destinations. Information and Communication Technologies in Tourism.
2. Getz, D. (2008). Event tourism: Definition, evolution, and research. Tourism Management.
3. Tourism Committee of the Republic of Uzbekistan (2025). Annual Report on Tourism Infrastructure Development.
4. UzDaily (2026). VII Hotel Business Forum Opens in Tashkent: Artificial Intelligence as a Driver of Hospitality Transformation.
5. Uzexpocentre Official Report (2026). HoReCa Uzbekistan Exhibition Analysis.
6. Buhalis, D., & Amaranggana, A. (2014). Smart tourism destinations enhancing tourism experience through personalisation of services. Information and Communication Technologies in Tourism, 377–389. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-14343-9_28
7. Getz, D. (2008). Event tourism: Definition, evolution, and research. Tourism Management, 29(3), 403–428. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tourman.2007.07.017
8. Göral, R. (2026). Tourism destination competitiveness research: A longitudinal review (2000–2026). DergiPark. https://dergipark.org.tr/tr/download/article-file/5797556
