Azerbaijan, Baku, Jan. 31 / Trend U.Ismayilova /
The biggest problem of Azerbaijani tourism is a poor quality of services at tourist facilities, Azerbaijani Culture and Tourism Ministry Tourism Sector Department Head Aydin Ismiyev said on Monday.
"The ministry organizes a regular ten-day courses, training for tour-companies' employees, but this is too small to improve the situation in the entire field," Ismiyev said.
About 80 people become the first graduates of the Azerbaijani Tourism Institute in 2010, but it is also too small for today, he added.
The tourism industry cannot develop only with the support of the Culture and Tourism Ministry and the entire population must participate in the development sector, Ismiyev said.
"The scope of tourism includes not only travel and tourism companies, it includes catering facilities, retail outlets and infrastructure, all of this suggests that every citizen must be involved in the development sector, as for example, in Turkey," he said .
Tiday, Ismiyev said, is too early to compare the tourism industry of Turkey and Azerbaijan, as it has been developing for 45 years in Turkey, and a few years in Azerbaijan.
Development of the tourism services sphere is time consuming, he said.
Regarding the price in the country's tourism companies, Ismiyev said today they can not be called too high. He considers that prices are high in Azerbaijan compared to rates in tourism companies of Turkey, as compared to similar facilities in Europe, if not taken into account in this issue a low level of service, they are not as high.
Meanwhile, in 2011-the Year of Tourism in Azerbaijan will be taken measures to reduce the price, he said.