Azerbaijan, Baku, Feb. 17 / Trend , E.Huseyinzade /
The number of tourists to Azerbaijan increased 39 percent to 1.5 million people in 2008.
"The figure was unexpected," Azerbaijani Tourism Minister Abulfaz Garayev said at a conference dedicated to declaring Baku as a capital of the Islamic world.
Over one million tourists visited Azerbaijan in 2007.
The number of tourists is expected to increase to three million in 5 years, Garayev said.
The country's tourism infrastructure is able to host tourists.
Fifty-two new tourism centers were built in the country last year.
Tourists mainly come to Azerbaijan from CIS countries, including Ukraine, Kazakhstan and Georgia; Asia - Iran, Jordan and Bahrain; and Europe - Germany, Austria, Bulgaria and Finland.
Roughly 364 tourists visited Azerbaijan from Columbia in 2008, Garayev said.
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