Azernews.Az

By Rasana Gasimova

Azerbaijan ranked in Top 5 excursion tour destination in National Geographic Traveler Awards 2019, an annual traveler award held by National Geographic Traveler magazine.

As of September 16, Azerbaijan shares its place with Italy, Great Britain, Portugal and Belgium.

The rich historical, cultural and natural heritage of Azerbaijan attracts visitors from all over the world. Tourism sector in Azerbaijan is developing day by day, becoming one of the most important sectors of the economy. The Azerbaijani government has made developing tourism a priority. New tourist facilities are being built in the regions, and cultural and historical reserves are being set up or restored. More and more tourists from various countries choose Azerbaijan as their holiday destination.

The leader in other types of holidays are: Czech and Jordan as wellness holidays destinations; Switzerland and Austria as mountain ski holidays destinations; Spain and Bulgaria as family holidays destinations; Greece and Turkey as beach holidays destinations, Japan and Brazil as exotic holidays destinations; and Georgia as gastronomic holidays destination.

Island rounds out the ranking. It is the leader in adventure tourism.

The poll on the website of National Geographic Russia will continue until October 12.

Last year, 2,849,600 tourists from 196 countries arrived in Azerbaijan, showing a 5.7 percent increase compared to 2017.

Simplification of visa regime plays a major role in the development of tourism in Azerbaijan. Currently, citizens of a number of countries get visas right at the Azerbaijani airports, while other tourists can visit the country by getting online tourist visas.

The tourist flow to Azerbaijan in January to July 2019 amounted to 1.78 million people, which is 7.4 percent higher than in same period last year.

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