Baku, Azerbaijan, Aug. 31
By Elmir Murad - Trend:
The number of tourists arriving from Russia to Azerbaijan has reduced this year, Aydin Ismiyev, head of the tourism department under the Azerbaijani Ministry of Culture and Tourism, told Trend August 31.
He said that a decrease of the tourist flow from Russia to Azerbaijan is connected with the economic crisis in this country.
Some 500,000 tourists, mainly Russians, arrived in Azerbaijan in 2014.
"Every year, many tourists come to Azerbaijan from Iran, Turkey, Georgia and Russia," he said.
"Unfortunately, this year the number of tourists from Russia has decreased," he said. "The crisis, observed in the world today, particularly in Russia, affected the social conditions of people. Therefore, the flow of Russian tourists to Azerbaijan is being reduced."
He also said that the opening of new hotels in some districts of Azerbaijan has contributed to the development of the tourism sector of the country.
"The new tourist facilities have opened in several districts of the country this year," he said. "I believe that this has contributed to the development of tourism in Azerbaijan. The information about the number of tourists who visited Azerbaijan this year and the districts which they visited as of the year will be disclosed in late September."
Edited by CN