Baku, Azerbaijan, March 19
By Anvar Mammadov – Trend:
Although tourism is a relatively immature sector for Azerbaijan, its active development is visible, Chairman of the Azerbaijan Tourism Association (AzTA) Nahid Baghirov told Trend March 19.
He added that 2016 can be seen as a turning point in the development of tourism sector.
"The tourism sector has been actively developing in Azerbaijan since 2006 and the success, achieved over the past years, testifies to this development,” he said. “In 2016 the influx of tourists from Arab countries has increased tenfold. Earlier, most tourists made business trips to Azerbaijan. Presently, more tourists come to Azerbaijan for having a rest.”
"Though the tourism sector is developing slowly, we should stress that development is underway,” he said. “We are moving ahead cautiously, but we are protecting the tourism sector from possible risks. We are moving ahead sensibly, taking into account all world problems, the practices of our neighbors, the experience of the whole world tourism."
Baghirov added that of course, one of the main reasons for this growth is the perfect infrastructure created in the country upon Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev’s order.
"It is worth noting that President Aliyev pays, has paid and will continue to pay special attention to the tourism sector,” he said. “The president’s decision on the simplification of the visa regime became historic, which is testified by the high growth of the tourist flow to Azerbaijan in 2016. The president’s decision has become the beginning for an increase in the tourist flow.”
“Since 2012, we have already developed our relations with the Arab countries,” he said. “Our office has opened in the Persian Gulf countries. Moreover, Azerbaijan may become more popular due to such events as Eurovision Song Contest, the European Games, the Islamic Solidarity Games, as well as various forums."
In 2016, 2,242,783 people visited Azerbaijan, which is 11.7 percent more than in 2015. At the same time, the number of tourists from Arab countries greatly increased.
The number of tourists arriving in Azerbaijan from Jordan increased twofold, from Kuwait - by 3.2 times, from Qatar - by 5.5 times, from Saudi Arabia and Oman - by 10 times, from UAE - by 22 times, from Iran - 30 times in 2017 compared to 2015.
The number of foreign citizens who arrived in Azerbaijan in 2017 increased by 449,215 people (20 percent) compared to 2,691,998 people in 2016.