Azerbaijan growing more tourist-friendly
By Nigar Orujova
Azerbaijan will open a sightseeing tour agency, says Nahid Bagirov, the chairman of the Azerbaijan Tourism Association.
The agency is scheduled to begin operating in mid-October, he said. It will be developed at AzTA, where future guides will take two-month courses.
After completing the course, the guide-to-be will have to pass a certification exam from the Culture and Tourism Ministry. With this certificate, the guide is able to begin work. About 20 people have already expressed interest in the courses to AzTa, Bagirov said.
“We are focused on training professional guides who can speak several languages. I think that this will give a great impetus to the development of this [tourism] sphere,” said Bagirov.
Professional guides are the best options for tourists who seek to explore a country in-depth.
At present, Azerbaijan is one of the most attractive countries in the region due to its location and developing infrastructure. The country attracts mostly regional tourists from from Russia, Turkey, Georgia, and Iran, who make up roughly 95 percent of Azerbaijan’s tourist base.
Currently, the country can accommodate over 35,000 tourists at its 530 hotels.
Over 2.5 million tourists arrived in Azerbaijan in 2014. The country is expected to increase its tourist flow up to 5 million a year in the future.
Moreover, today, more and more Azerbaijanis are travelling abroad, mainly to Turkey and Georgia, and a range of other countries.
The country also plans to open a tourism fund to protect the rights of tourists, the AzTa chairman said earlier.
“According to international practice, in order for a tourist company to obtain a license, it must give a specific bank guarantee. This matter is not reflected in the law. Therefore, in the event of bankruptcy of a travel agency, the fate of tourist remains uncertain, as the tourists do not have insurance in this case. We have decided to create a fund to address these gaps,” Bagirov said.
He noted that the fund would give travel companies the right to insure tourists.
“We are creating this fund to ensure that our visitors do not experience problems abroad, that tourists would be able to go back in the event of bankruptcy of the company that sent him or her abroad,” he said.
--
Nigar Orujova is AzerNews’s staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @o_nigar
Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz