Baku, Azerbaijan, May 20
Trend:
As many as 200,000 tourists from China are expected to arrive in Azerbaijan, which is stipulated by an agreement between the governments of Azerbaijan and China, Kanan Guluzade, spokesperson of Azerbaijan’s State Tourism Agency, told Trend.
"The agreement is aimed at attracting Chinese tourists to Azerbaijan, and this is the main task of the agency," he said.
"The next task is to ensure that foreigners are satisfied with the services offered. There is a close relationship between these two tasks. We must have specialists, guides who speak Chinese, because most Chinese tourists don’t speak foreign languages. There are three educational institutions for training of the personnel: the Azerbaijan University of Tourism and Management, the Baku Vocational School of Tourism and the Mingachevir Tourism College. On the basis of the University, guides who speak Chinese are already being trained. In addition, we cooperate with the Azerbaijan Association of Guides."
"At the first stage, Chinese-speaking guides from Russia and Turkey can be invited to Azerbaijan. At the same time, it would be desirable for local personnel to form in Azerbaijan who could inform about the history and culture of the country. Moreover, Chinese tourists prefer their national cuisine. Therefore, taking into account these requirements, an appropriate infrastructure should be created. Hotels and catering facilities should take this into account. We open new markets, but each of them has its own peculiarities," he noted.
Guluzade added that Azerbaijan has significant potential and prospects for accepting even more Chinese tourists in the following years.
"Last year, over 140 million Chinese tourists visited various countries. It was agreed with the Chinese government that 200,000 tourists would initially arrive in Azerbaijan. This is a small figure for China, but quite impressive for the tourism market of Azerbaijan," he said.