Azernews.Az

By Rashid Shirinov

Mexico's Ambassador to Baku Rodrigo Labardini and Chief Executive of Naftalan City Natig Aslanov discussed the possibilities of cooperation between the countries during a meeting in Naftalan.

Aslanov briefed the ambassador about the features of Naftalan and talked about city’s great potential in the field of medical tourism, the Mexican Embassy in Baku reported on June 13. The chief executive also noted that the health resorts of Naftalan attract many foreign tourists.

Labardini, in turn, spoke about the development of tourism in Mexico, which is one of the nine most visited countries in the world. The ambassador noted that Mexican cities and regions are popular destinations for a romantic, luxury, health tourism and ecotourism.

Both sides expressed interest in developing cooperation in tourism and exchange of experience, which will contribute to the development of the tourism sector of both Azerbaijan and Mexico.

Today tourism is developing with high speed in Azerbaijan, with a contribution of 4.5 percent to the national GDP. There are more than 500 hotels in Azerbaijan, while the capital hosts the world’s leading hotel chains. Last year, 35 hotels were built in the country, while 25 are under construction.

In 2016, the number of tourists visiting Azerbaijan amounted to 2,242 million people and this is 11.7 percent more than in 2015. The majority of tourists came from Russia, Georgia, Turkey and Iran making up 33 percent, 22.5 percent, 13.9 percent and 10.9 percent, accordingly.

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Rashid Shirinov is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @RashidShirinov

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