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Land of Fire attracts more and more visitors

29 June 2016 10:00 (UTC+04:00)
Land of Fire attracts more and more visitors

By Amina Nazarli

Azerbaijan is a miraculous country with its rich natural resources, and ancient culture, history and people, whose lifestyle presents a unique and harmonious combination of the traditions and ceremonies of many different cultures and civilizations.

But for many, the greatest resource of Azerbaijan is its welcoming people, who are proud of their culture, and willing to share it with others.

The country with rich ancient history has thousands of places to visit – starting from the capital to the unique villages lost in the clouds. Visitors are attracted by the shores of Absheron. Water of the Caspian Sea, the largest lake in the world, is not that salty as seawater; it is both: pleasant to swim and healing for the skin.

Tourism has already turn to the priority of Azerbaijan’s economy, which makes any efforts to improve this field.

Secretary General of the Azerbaijan Tourism Association Muzaffar Agakarimov said that for the past several years inbound tourism is gaining momentum in the country. “If in the late 20th century and early 21st century, outbound tourism was higher, then now tourist companies reported more inbound and domestic tourism.

Agakarimov believes that the increase of the tourist flow become noticeable after development of infrastructure, creating new forms of tourism. The secretary general noted that more tourists are coming from Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan. “It’s because they are closer to Azerbaijan from a geographical point of view. In addition these countries have free visa regime,” he said.

The expert also explained the reason why Russian tourists prefer Azerbaijan as their holiday destination.

“The majority of Russian tourists prefer to visit the country’s Gabala and Sheki regions. They also have big interest in winter tourism. And we have mountain tourism such as Tufandag and Shahdag. In summer Russians like beach tourism. Earlier, they prefer Middle East, Egypt’s Sharm el-Sheikh and Turkey’s Antalya, but after the recent processes in the region, closed Russian tourists ways to these countries. That’s why they are looking for another warm places. And Azerbaijan is ideal place for this,” Agakarikov explained.

Moreover, more Arab tourists have become to interest in the Land of Fire.

The Culture and Tourism Ministry reported that the number of Arabs increased by 30 times, from 99 people last May to 3,000 people this May.

The ministry notes that this growth is associated with promotion of Azerbaijan in Dubai and opening of tourism office in this country. In addition, facilitation of visa regime with this country earlier last November also stimulate the increase.

Vugar Shikhmammadov, Head of Information and Public Relations Department of the Culture and Tourism Ministry, said that the Parliament is discussing new draft law “On Tourism”.

He said in the upcoming autumn session of the Parliament, the draft law will be widely discussed. Moreover, Tourism Development Plan for the next 10 years has been submitted to the Cabinet of Ministers, aiming to improve the sector.

Now, visiting Azerbaijan has become even easier since the recent presidential order on facilitation of issuance of electronic visas and the establishment of ASAN Viza system aimed to make life easier for many foreigners.

Culture and Tourism Minister Abulfaz Garayev said that the launch of the ASAN Visa system in the near future will develop tourism in Azerbaijan, as foreign citizens will be able to get visas in three days at the latest.

He noted that the tourism industry is one of the priority areas of Azerbaijan’s economy and great progress has been made in this sphere in recent years.

Garayev pointed out that currently, citizens of a number of countries can get visas right at the airport. Moreover, the citizens of other countries can visit Azerbaijan by getting online tourist visas, he added.

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Amina Nazarli is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @amina_nazarli

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz

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