Baku, main destination of Russian tourists
By Nigar Orujova
Russian tourists have again chosen Baku as one of their main destination in CIS.
The index of Russian online hotel booking service Oktogo.ru shows Baku is among top five most popular CIS cities in 2014. Moreover, Azerbaijani capital is also a destination for long trips.
The rating is based on Russian tourists’ hotel reservation data provided for 2014. Earlier in May, Baku also topped the rating.
The top-ten list is headed by Minsk, Kiev and Almaty. Baku on the fourth place is followed by Yerevan, Astana, Chisinau, Tashkent, Bishkek and Brest.
Belarus, Ukraine and Kazakhstan are the most popular CIS countries for Russian tourists. If Georgia was in CIS, its capital Tbilisi would enter the top five most popular cities in the rating.
Oktogo.ru’s statistics shows, the longest trips this year were made by Russian tourists to Baku for five days, and the shortest trips – to Vitebsk, Belarus, for one day and half.
CIS countries remain the main region supplying tourists to Azerbaijan, with such countries as Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan. About 40 percent, out of more than 2.5 million foreigners who visited Azerbaijan last year were citizens of CIS countries.
Caucasian beauty Azerbaijan now attracts more and more tourists to enjoy the mild climate and historical sites. It is also attractive for businessmen with hosting lots of international events.
There are 530 hotels functioning in Azerbaijan, and their number has doubled in seven years. The country attaches great attention to tourists.
The country is developing its tourism sector by all means, to make it more affordable and comfortable for both local and foreign tourists. Now the sector is thriving in the capital Baku.
Besides Baku, tourists prefer to visit Nakhchivan, Naftalan, Khachmaz, Lankaran, Guba, Ismayilli, Masalli, and Sheki.