BAKU, Azerbaijan, April 20. There is a revival in the Azerbaijani tourism sector, Chairman of the Management Board of the Small and Medium Business Development Agency (SMBDA) of Azerbaijan Orkhan Mammadov said at a public discussion held in Baku on the topic "The current situation and prospects in the tourism business", Trend reports.
According to Mammadov, as in other areas in the post-pandemic period, there is also a revival in this area. The number of tourists visiting Azerbaijan amounted to 1.6 million people in 2022.
The chairman noted that the comprehensive development of this industry is essential for the country's economy. Enhancing strategic, institutional and financial mechanisms to ensure the sustainable development of the tourism sector is reflected in the Action Plan of the "Socio-economic development strategy for 2022-2026 of Azerbaijan".
"As a result of the targeted measures taken over the past period in the field of tourism, favorable conditions have been created in Azerbaijan for developing one of the priority sectors of the non-oil sector, and the competitiveness of national tourist complexes has been improved. Currently, the whole world, including our country, is at a stage of rapid development in the post-pandemic period. I would like to remind you that one of the areas most affected during the pandemic was tourism. Thus, if 3.2 million tourists visited Azerbaijan in 2019, then in 2020 this figure amounted to 795,000, and in 2021 reached 791,800," the chairman added.