Land of Fire sees five-fold rise in tourist flow
By Rashid Shirinov
Azerbaijan has emerged as a more preferred destination for foreign tourists as the state registered over five-fold growth in terms of visitors coming from abroad over the past ten years, according to Culture and Tourism Minister Abulfaz Garayev.
The minister, addressing public discussions on “Tourism in Azerbaijan: Strategic Outlook” in Baku on June 9, mentioned that tourism is one of the priority areas of the non-oil sector in the Azerbaijani economy.
Thanks to measures taken over the past few years, the tourism industry of the country is experiencing a period of development.
“Today, tourism, as one of the main areas of the global economy, is developing rapidly. After Azerbaijan gained its independence, big projects for developing the tourism sector were implemented in the country and brand-name hotels were built and commissioned,” Garayev said.
Garayev also stressed that the measures carried out in the country for the development of culture and tourism will further be accelerated.
The minister further added that 4.5 percent of the current total gross domestic product fells to the share of income from tourism. Furthermore, Azerbaijan ranks 36th among 141 countries on Human Resources and Labor Market pillar, according the Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Index 2015.
Today, there are about 300 travel agencies and more than 570 accommodation establishments in Azerbaijan. The prices for hotels and hostels became even more attractive for the visitors of the country due to the devaluation of the national currency in 2015. The provided accommodation establishments are of any price range, starting from just $6-7 per a night in hostel and $25 in hotels.
UNEC Rector, Professor Adalat Muradov, addressing the event, stated that the decline in oil prices on the world market accelerated further development of non- oil sector in Azerbaijan.
“Thus, the President has signed the Decree on “The Directions of the Strategic Roadmap on the National Economy and main Sectors of the Economy” targeted to provide the sustainability of economic policy and reforms implemented, in-depth analysis of economy and develop new economic development strategy,” he said.
The main topic of the event is to investigate the ways of developing one of the most important sectors of economy tourism, he said, adding that it is primarily important in terms of the quality of the document prepared by the working group.
Overall, Azerbaijan greeted about 2.5 million tourists in 2015, according to the Ministry of Culture and Tourism information. The country attracts mostly tourists from Russia, Turkey, Georgia, Iran and European states.
Among the drivers of the five-time increase in the tourist flow is holding of a number of global international events in Azerbaijan. The country hosted Eurovision Song Contest of 2012, First European Games in 2015 ,World Chess Cup 2015 and a number of European and world championship in various sports.
In less than a week, the country will host the Formula 1 Grand Prix race in Baku. The event will take place right in the streets of Baku, revealing its beauty for international spectators.
Furthermore, the capital city will host the 42nd World Chess Olympiad 2016 and accept the Islamic Solidarity Games next year, expecting elite athletes from over than 30 countries of Asia and Africa will join. All these create favorable conditions for informing tourists about Azerbaijan and make it one of the most visited countries of the region.
Taking into account the increase of tourists, the Azerbaijani government decided to facilitate the relaxation of coming tourists. As a result, a single online portal for providing visas for foreigners will be established. Thus, tourists will not have to apply to state organizations in order to enter the country -- visas will be issued online within three days.
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Rashid Shirinov is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @RashidShirinov
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