Baku, Azerbaijan, Apr. 11
By Ilhama Isabalayeva – Trend:
It is impossible to regulate the prices for hotel accommodation in Azerbaijan, the country’s Culture and Tourism Minister Abulfas Garayev told Trend Apr. 11.
He was commenting on the fact that in Azerbaijan, the hotel rooms’ prices offered to foreign travel companies are lower than those offered to local ones.
The minister added that each hotel in Azerbaijan has its own pricing policy and cheap price offers to foreign companies are due to early booking.
“Each hotel has its own system,” Garayev said. “Hotels offer corporate prices. The prices are lower for those who book earlier. As hotel rooms in Azerbaijan are booked earlier from abroad, the price becomes cheaper. Every enterprise, every hotel wants to plan its work in advance. If Azerbaijani travel companies book earlier, they can also benefit from the discounts.”
Earlier, Muzaffar Aghakarimov, adviser to the chairman of the Azerbaijan Tourism Association (AzTA), told Trend that Azerbaijani hotels offer foreign travel companies rooms at prices much lower than the prices offered to local travel companies.
“Azerbaijani travel companies are unable to buy cheap hotel rooms, so they lose in competition with foreign companies,” he said. “As a result, the prices of tour packages to Azerbaijan offered by foreign companies are cheaper than those offered by local companies.”