Azerbaijan, Baku, 23 February / Trend, U. Ismaylova /
The Azerbaijani Travel Agencies Association (AZTA) will start jointly with the Culture and Tourism Ministry and Ministry of Economic Development to monitor activities of tourism companies from Feb.28, AZTA head Nahid Bagirov said.
"Monitoring will be conducted in each tourism companies operating in the country," Bagirov said.
According to the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, there are 207 tourism companies in the country.
According to him, the main goal of monitoring is to identify tourism companies operating without a license. A subject for monitoring will be quality of the tourism companies' services.
Bagirov said that the companies that do not meet the ministry's requirements, and don't meet customers' needs, will be eliminated.
Tourism objects operating in the country's regions will also be monitored after the monitoring of the quality of activity of the capital's tourism companies. Monitoring will be conducted at the first phase in Baku, further in the regions. Improving the quality of the rendered tourism services is envisaged within declaring 2011 as "Year of Tourism" by the President, Bagirov said.
The Azerbaijani Travel Agencies Association was created with the assistance of the Ministry of Tourism and Culture in January 2009. The board members include Improtex Travel, Caspian Travel, Pasha Travel, Silkway Travel, Euroturizm CEOs. Over 51 travel agencies are members of the association.
The association protects the interests of travel agencies, develops bills, recommendations and regulations, assists in establishing national travel companies. It develops plans to conduct trainings and seminars for market participants, creates conditions for advertising of Azerbaijani tourism at annual international exhibitions; develops domestic tourism and presents tourism products at the world market.
The association also tries to develop and introduce congressional tourism, help to train specialists in the management and services etc.