Azernews.Az

By Nigar Orujova

A photo exhibition dedicated to World Tourism Day, "World tourism routes", will be held in the Azerbaijani capital Baku on September 27.

The exhibition with the slogan "Azerbaijan and world countries through the eyes of tourism industry workers" will display photos taken by tourism sector employees during tours in Azerbaijan and abroad.

The event is co-organized by the tourism information and news portal infotour.az, the Culture and Tourism Ministry and the Azerbaijan Tourism Association (AzTA).

The exhibition will be held on a competitive basis and the jury consisting of representatives of the Ministry, AzTA, Azerbaijan Photographers Union and infotour.az will shortlist contest entries. The three best entries will be awarded.

The official opening ceremony is expected to be attended by the Culture and Tourism Minister, representatives of the Ministry and the Association, managers of the leading travel agencies and hotels of the country, foreign ambassadors, representatives of Azerbaijani ministries and government agencies.

Azerbaijan, a South Caucasus republic with unique and picturesque nature, located at the crossroads of Europe and Asia and known as "the Land of Fire", is becoming a favorite destination for tourists around the world. Tourists may enjoy all the nine climate zones here. Although Azerbaijan was previously mostly known for its summer resorts near the Caspian seashore, now, after opening of the Shahdag tourism complex in the northern Gusar region, "winter tourism" is also on the rise in the country.

The tourism sector's development has been recorded in Azerbaijan. The number of foreign nationals who visited Azerbaijan in the first half of 2013 increased by 9.9 percent compared to the same period of 2012 and amounted to 1,196,953.

Most of the foreigners are citizens of Russia, Georgia, Turkey, Iran, and European countries. Domestic tourism is also developing, with such popular destinations as the north-eastern, the northwestern and the southern regions.

The number of hotels in Azerbaijan has been on the rise recently. However, only 260 of the 514 operating hotels have obtained licenses. 221 licensed travel agencies operate in the country as well.

Restaurants, cafes and a number of five-star luxury hotels such as Hilton Baku, Four Seasons Hotel, JW Marriott Hotel Absheron Baku, and Jumeirah Bilgah Beach Hotel, which operate in the capital city, attract more tourists to the country.