Azerbaijan, Baku, Feb. 3 / Trend A.Akhundov /
The private sector of Azerbaijan must be supported for further development of the tourism sector in the country, Turkish Culture and Tourism Minister Ertugrul Gunay said in an interview with Trend.
"The tourism development in Azerbaijan is linked with an active connection of the private sector to the process," Gunay said.
Gunay said the tourism sector in Azerbaijan is developing rapidly, and the international hotel networks are beginning to work in the country. "The development is observed in all areas of the country's tourism, especially in the area of business tourism," Gunay said.
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev announced 2011 - the Year of Tourism in the country.
According to the Azerbaijani Culture and Tourism Ministry the number of foreign nationals who visited Azerbaijan in 2010, amounted to 1.85 million. The number of foreigners visiting the country increased by 1.6 times compared to 2005. The number of foreigners visiting the country annually reaches 2 million people. The number of travel companies over the past 5 years has grown to 214, the number of hotels and hotel-type facilities, compared with 2005, nearly half - from 262 to 477, 80 percent of which are located in the country's regions.
Based on the Turkish Culture and Tourism Ministry's data, in 2010 Turkey was visited by 486,381 Azerbaijani citizens, which is 14.67 percent over last year. In 2009, Turkey was visited by 424,155 Azerbaijani citizens.
The Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat) reported that in 2010, 441,468 Azerbaijani citizens visited Turkey - 112,055 of them visited the country to meet with family and friends; 100,167 people - travel and leisure; 44,269 people - trade; 30,058 people - work (conferences, meetings, etc.); 12,822 people - treatment; 7,069 people - education; 1,556 people - religious purposes; 685 people - transit; and 132,788 people for other purposes.