Foreign tourists spent $1.3 billion in Azerbaijan
By Aygul Salmanova
It is difficult to imagine something more complex, heterogeneous and multi-component for description than the sights that Azerbaijan has. It has Baku, city of winds, one of the world’s most beautiful cities located at the crossroads of Europe and Asia. It has Ganja, once a capital city with its amazing spirit and refined architecture. It has Sheki, one of the most ancient cities of the country, member of the UNESCO Creative Cities Network. The country is so diverse that everyone will find here something interesting.
In recent years, tourism has become one of the leading sectors of the non-oil sector of the Azerbaijani economy, said Deputy Minister of Culture and Tourism Nazim Samadov.
The state support, attention and care shown on the tourism sector, gave the positive results, according to Samadov, who noted that for 11 months of this year, the number of tourists increased by 20 percent.
The deputy minister also added that foreign tourists who arrived in Azerbaijan spent $1.3 billion, while Azerbaijani tourists spent $1.2 billion abroad. Samadov noted that the positive balance was $100 million, which can be regarded positively.
The number of foreigners visiting Azerbaijan during the first 11 months of this year was 2,477,908 people.
The top 10 list of countries sending tourists to Azerbaijan includes Russia Federation (790,258), Georgia (488,269), Iran (340,702), Turkey (275,147), UAE (87,215), Iraq (58,259), Ukraine (53,583), Kazakhstan (33,439), Saudi Arabia (32,644), and United Kingdom (29,828).
In the total number of foreign citizens coming to the country this year the specific share of citizens of Russia, Georgia, Iran, Turkey and UAE was more compared to remaining countries being 31.8, 19.7, 13.7, 11.1 and 3.5 percent respectively.
The highest number of tourists visiting the country was observed in July (313, 515 people).
Compared with the same period of the last year, the countries with the main growth rates this year were Iran, UAE and Russia. Thus, 117,556 more people from Iran, 44,558 from UAE and 105,020 more people from Russia arrived in Azerbaijan this year.
For the first 11 months of the year 2016, the number of foreign tourists arriving in Azerbaijan was 2,064,224 people, and in November - 169,427. Compared to the same period of the previous year, some 413,684 more people came to Azerbaijan in the first 11 months of the current year, and only in November 31,877 more foreigners arrived in the Land of Fire.
Azerbaijan, situated on the Great Silk Road, and divided partially between Eastern Europe and Western Asia, blended the best from both cultures, forming its own unique rich culture, which attracts more and more tourists to the country.
A sharp increase in number of tourists cannot but rejoice both the economy and the inhabitants of Azerbaijan, also known as the Land of Fires.
Hotels, restaurants, recreation areas, and shopping centers filled up with foreigners and this shows the interest of tourists in a newly chosen destination.
The state pays much attention to tourism sector and “Strategic Roadmap for the Development of the Tourism Industry” approved in 2016 stipulates a number of measures for achieving great steps in this area.
While a number of tourist facilities have been built in the regions, and cultural and historical reserves have been set up or restored.
Thanks to all these, the country has improved its tourism performance in the Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Report 2017 released by experts of the World Economic Forum (WEF).
The country is placed 71st among the most improved economies in 2017, rising 13 spots in the global ranking.
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