Russian tourists take a closer look at Azerbaijan
By Nigar Orujova
The insecure situation in the world hinder tourism sector in many tourist attractive counties.
In the CIS region, Russia tourists were recently deprived of their most favorite destinations Turkey and Egypt, but Russian tourists remain to be one of the most frequent visitors of Azerbaijan.
The Land of Fire with its picturesque nature and ancient history, that managed to restrain stable in the current situation, may attract more tourists of the region in the next season.
The flow of Russian tourists to Azerbaijan is quite impressive, which can be proved by the fact that Baku ranks among the Top 10 destinations for Russian tourists, according to a Russian travel website.
The news on closing the favorite destination was accepted in many ways. Some were indifferent, whilst others were distressed not to be able to visit the familiar places. Many people were also curious with the opportunity to discover other countries.
Discussing this news in the social media, many Russian citizens named Azerbaijan as their potential destination for the next summer.
Why Azerbaijan? First, there is no need for Russians to obtain visa to enjoy the Land of Fire. The next reason is the lack of language barrier; Azerbaijanis can speak Russian with their melodious Caucasian accent.
“Azerbaijan is a perfect destination for Russian tourists as it is an interesting country with a rapidly developing infrastructure and very friendly attitude towards Russia,” head of the Azerbaijan-Russia parliamentary friendship group Dmitry Savelyev told Russian newspaper Pravda earlier.
“There is no language barrier here, though the climate, nature, comfort and safety meet high tourists demand,” he said, noting that this destination has a great potential.
Until now, Azerbaijan seems specifically attractive for mainly tourists from Russia, Turkey, Georgia and Iran, who make 95 percent of Azerbaijan’s tourist base.
Today, Azerbaijan, that is developing its tourism infrastructure, can accommodate over 35,000 tourists in its 530 hotels. There are luxury 5 star hotels of the world famous brands, budget hotels and hostels. Moreover, the country is now eager to create more low cost hotels to attract tourists of the region and from the world.
Tourists fall in love with the Land of Fire, that has turned into a host of the international events, especially because the mix of East and West, the sunny weather and delicious cuisine.
Azerbaijan also wants to become tourist attractive around the year, introducing ski complexes in the north. Here tourists can find entertainment both in winter and summer.
This all seems attractive for tourists, however, there is a drawback for the massive tourists flow and it is the prices. The prices have already been reduced at a number of tourist facilities in the country recently.
Most tourists prefer low-cost traveling and Azerbaijani experts believe the country should make some discounts for tourists in air ticket prices as well.
In the future, Azerbaijan may also offer low-cost travel packages to visitors from certain countries arriving in the Land of Fire.
Remaining the stable island in the region with attractive tourism potential, Azerbaijan, may soon turn into the favorite tourist attraction of the region.
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Nigar Orujova is AzerNews’s staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @o_nigar
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