Baku, Azerbaijan, Jan. 17
By Anvar Mammadov - Trend:
Arab investors show interest to the hotel business in Azerbaijan, mainly to the "economy segment" hotels, Chairman of the Association of Hotels and Restaurants of Azerbaijan Samir Dubendi told Trend.
However, according to him, no hotels have been purchased in Azerbaijan so far.
"We do not have information on the sale of Azerbaijani hotels to Arab investors, but there is an interest. Last year, investors from Saudi Arabia, who were mainly interested in economy-class hotels, two- and three-star hotels approached us. But no agreement was reached, and the reasons remained unknown for us," Dubendi said.
"Currently, the association is compiling a registry of tourist accommodation facilities, where, among other things, information on their owners and managers is collected. We have already completed the work in Baku and now we are continuing to work in the regions of Azerbaijan. I want to say that we have not seen hotels owned or managed by Arabs. Of course, this does not include hotels belonging to well-known hotel chains, " Dubendi said.
Dubendi also said that presently there is no need to attract Arab investments in the hotel business.
"We are not supporters of the sale of our hotels to Arabs, which is not necessary, as a big number of professionals have appeared in Azerbaijan. So we will rely more on locals," he said.