Baku, Azerbaijan, April 20
By Ilhama Isabalayeva – Trend:
Azerbaijan needs to attract Chinese and Indian tourists to develop mass tourism, Adviser of the chairman of Azerbaijan Tourism Association (AzTA) Muzaffar Agakarimov told Trend on April 20.
Reminding that most of the world's population lives in these countries, Agakarimov said that if Chinese and Indian tourists come to Azerbaijan, the country can earn huge income.
First of all, Agakarimov offers to open direct flights at relatively low prices, as well as to organize info tours to Azerbaijan for the leading tourist companies of China and India.
"It is possible to develop Azerbaijan's tourism sector by attracting Chinese and Indian tourists," he said, adding that the country will then be able to welcome over 10 million tourists a year.
He said that it's necessary to consider the development of mass tourism in Azerbaijan in a comprehensive way, and to increase the number of hotels.
There are 150-200 hotels on Absheron, but they do not have enough rooms, he said. "Therefore, it is necessary to build new hotels. Moreover, it is necessary to build a five-star hotel in Gusar, which has been enjoying great interest among tourists in recent years," he said.
In 2014, the number of Indians visiting Azerbaijan was 4,853 people, in 2015 - 5,584 people , in 2016 - 6,012 people, in 2017 - 14 ,173 people and in January-February 2018 - 3, 434 tourists.
In 2014, the number of Chinese tourists visiting Azerbaijan was 5,930 people, in 2015 - 5,094 people , in 2016 - 7,363 people, in 2017 - 10,258 people and in January-February 2018 - 1,237 tourists.
Last year, Azerbaijan welcomed 2,691,998 tourists. The number of foreign citizens who arrived in Azerbaijan in 2017 increased by 449,215 people (20 percent).