CHALLENGES IN CULTURAL TOURISM: SPATIAL CONCENTRATION AND PRESSURE ON HERITAGE SITES. EVIDENCE FROM OFFICIAL CULTURE AND TOURISM STATISTICS OF UZBEKISTAN

Heritage tourism is travel for heritage museums monuments festivals, and continious traditions. It is increasing rapidly. But benefits and pressures are focused on a small number of locations. The paper presents a simple model in which actors, heritage assets transport tourism infrastructure, events, and marketing produce concentration of tourists in some regions and sites. Which then influence results like monument conditions, visitor experiences, local residents' attitudes, and dispersion of local benefits. Heritage and destination management can lessen damage. Model elements are identified for specific locations, where official data do not measure crowding, damage to heritage, or flows of visitors between locations. And then fills gaps with data for museum visits, tourist trips, accommodation, and tourist enterprises by location, which explain in simple models of a dozen regions. Museum visits reached 5.47 million in 2025 (+14.5%) and inbound tourist trips increased 46.8%. Four regionsTashkent city Samarkand Bukhara, and Khorezmhave 82.0% of museum visits and 30.7% of the population. The article concludes with suggestions for improved data and for more equitable distribution of cultural tourism.