Tourism analytics agency: Baku - best destination for Russians during May holidays
By Mirsaid Ibrahimzade
Azerbaijan is becoming a recognizable and attractive tourist destination for Russian citizens in both summer and winter.
The presence of nine climate zones in Azerbaijan allows tourists to ski in the snowy mountains as well as relax in sandy beaches, participate in interesting festivals and sports events.
TourStat analytic agency has made up a ranking of the best cities in CIS countries for travel of Russian tourists during the May holidays.
Baku is at the first place in the list, followed by Minsk and Nur-Sultan.
The ranking is based on the results of the analysis of the May tourist trips' popularity. Russian tourists prefer to travel to the cities of the CIS in May for 3-5 days, TourStat informed. On average, they spend from $60 to $120 per day on food and accommodation.
It’s noteworthy that, according to TourStat, tourists prefer Baku for shopping.
Generally, Baku is one of the favourite destinations among the Russian tourists due to lack of language restrictions, the opportunity of visa-free travel and opening of direct flights between Azerbaijan and many Russian cities.
In 2018, Russia was the leader in the tourism market of Azerbaijan. Thus, as many as 2,849,600 tourists from 196 countries arrived in Azerbaijan during the year and the Russians made up the largest share of them - 30.9 percent (about 900,000).
As for Russia as a travel point for Azerbaijani tourists, it is noteworthy to mention that Moscow and St. Petersburg keep the status of most popular Russian cities among Azerbaijani tourists. Additionally, Azerbaijani tourists began to choose the Russian city of Zheleznovodsk more often for rest and treatment. As many as 1,500 Azerbaijani tourists visited this Russian city last year.
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Mirsaid Ibrahimzade is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @MirsaidIbrahim1
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