Baku, Azerbaijan, Sept. 13
By Ilhama Isabalayeva – Trend:
The number of foreign tourists who came to Azerbaijan increased by 8.3 percent and reached 2.1 million people in January-August 2019.
This statement was made during the discussions of the strategic roadmap for the development of the specialized tourism industry in the Center for Economic Reforms Analysis and Communication, Trend reports referring to the Center on Sept. 13.
More than half of the tourists (53 percent) accounted for the Russian (653,000) and Georgian tourists (472,000). The number of Georgian tourists increased by 22.8 percent or by 87,000 people.
The number of tourists coming from Central Asia and South Asia increased by 40.4 percent and 38.1 percent (83,000 and 72,000), respectively.
Most of the tourists from South Asia accounted for citizens of India (39,000, an increase of 68 percent) and citizens of Pakistan (29,000, an increase of 12.9 percent).
The majority of those who came from Central Asia accounted for citizens of Turkmenistan (32,000, an increase of 82.9 percent) and citizens of Kazakhstan (31,000, an increase of 21.2 percent).
The number of Turkish tourists increased by 5.1 percent and reached 203,000 people in January-August 2019 compared to the same period of last year.
The number of tourists who came from the Middle East and Iran decreased by 23,000 and 22,000 and reached 264,000 people and 164,000 people, respectively.
The representative offices of the Azerbaijan Tourism Board began to operate in China, India, Germany, Russia, Saudi Arabia and the UAE in December 2018.
The number of tourists from these countries increased by 35,000 (17 percent) and reached 237,000 people in January-August 2019 compared to the same period of 2018.