Details added after 5th paragraph (first version published at 22:59)
Azerbaijan, Baku, April 25 /Trend, N.Ismayilova/
Georgia has prepared specific proposals to expand cooperation with Azerbaijan in the sphere of tourism, Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development of Georgia Vera Kobalia said Monday in an interview with Trend during her one-day visit to Azerbaijan.
"We currently have specific proposals in the tourism sphere, and I think Azerbaijani businessmen will be interested in them, because a lot of people come from Azerbaijan to Georgia to have a rest," said Kobalia.
She said according to statistics, approximately half a million Azerbaijani tourists visited Georgia in 2010, and last winter 40 percent growth was also recorded.
"We have two tourist areas on the territory of the Black Sea coast, where we offer the Azerbaijani investors free land, tax exemption for 15 years, Georgia also assumes all communications and infrastructure works. Azerbaijani investors can choose among different architectural projects already established by the European designers or can come with their own projects," she said.
The minister said the interest of tourists in Georgia is growing, and today there is a shortage of hotel rooms, so this proposal could become very interesting for Azerbaijani businessmen.
"This is a fairly new project, but our team already has a couple of suggestions from the Azerbaijani investors and I believe that the next stage is to organize a visit of a group of interested investors to Georgia, to the territory of these zones. It will let them to see on site what parcels of land they are interested in, and we also will be able to discuss all other details", she said.
According to Kobalia, the Georgian side also proposed to the Azerbaijan's Culture and Tourism Ministry to provide foreign tourists with a common tour package to Georgia and Azerbaijan.
"Thus foreign tourists instead of 5 or 7 days long visit would pay for a two-week vacation, and would be able to have a vacation both in Georgia and Azerbaijan", said the minister.