New zones to boost tourism
The Culture and Tourism Ministry of Azerbaijan is working on the design of three tourist zones.
The work is carried out by three companies following the results of the international tender, the Minister of Culture and Tourism Abulfas Garayev said on January 31, speaking at the open day of the Convention Bureau of Azerbaijan.
The zones are located in KhiziNabran, Guba and Gusar, where the work will continue until the end of the year, the minister said.
“All the benefits in these tourist zones should provide an opportunity for the construction of three- and four-star hotels, and in general the creation of tourist infrastructure,” Garayev noted.
The minister added that recently great importance is attached to the construction of three-star hotels in the regions.
He noted that the country is slowly developing a three-star hotel business and the number of such hotels should be increased.
“Over the past years, tourism business in Azerbaijan has developed in the direction of luxury tourism. We were a country actively developing the energy sector. This industry accordingly dictated to us its standards: various businessmen, people engaged in the energy business came to Azerbaijan. In this connection, we have all these five-star hotels,” the minister said.
Today, Azerbaijan can accommodate about 40,000 tourists in its 575 hotels, which include a series of luxury hotels – Excelsior, Hilton, Four Seasons, Fairmont, JW Marriott – as well as several budget hotels for cost-conscious travelers. Moreover, 25 hostels and 92 apartments for tourists operate in Baku.
In the current conditions Azerbaijan’s economy puts forward other requirements for the development of the industry, so the country is gradually reorienting to more mass tourism, according to the minister.
Recalling that a new bill “On Tourism” is being drafted, Garayev said that this law will be very important from the point of view of ensuring the quality and image of Azerbaijani tourism.
“If a five-star hotel renders services of a two-star hotel, then it violates the parameters. If the travel companies are engaged in brokerage and deceive people, they will be held accountable. No concessions will be made! And I'm looking forward to the adoption of this law,” he said.
Tourism tends to become one of the main sectors of the Azerbaijani economy, and that can be seen from the huge flow of tourists visiting the country this year.
The minister also noted that work in the reserve “Yanardag” will begin after the issues with the people living there are resolved.
“Now there is a project, based on the work to be done, but it will get started after the issues with the people living there are solved. The state is engaged in this work. The remark of President Ilham Aliyev on this issue was absolutely fair. This question has been relevant for a long time, and we should have paid attention to the issues related to “Yanardag” long time ago. We will draw a conclusion from criticism,” Garayev added.
It should be noted that last December President Aliyev inspected the State Historical and Cultural Reserve “Yanardag”. After getting familiarized with the reserve, the head of state pointed to the intolerable conditions here. He noted that both Azerbaijani citizens and numerous tourists visit this reserve, and existing conditions do not correspond to the current level of the country's development.
Non-cash payments increase eightfold during Shopping Festival
Non-cash payments in Azerbaijan increased eightfold as a result of tourist flow during the Baku Shopping Festival.
During the festival, the volume of non-cash payments increased by 800 percent, said Garayev.
“President Ilham Aliyev in a recent speech, said that the volume of non-cash payments in Azerbaijan increased by 70 percent due to the development of tourism, which is a large figure, however, only during the festival in comparison with other years the jump in non-cash payments amounted to several hundred percent,” the minister stressed.
Garayev went on to say that already more than 20 million people have received information on the festival through the Internet, adding that the goal is to bring to Azerbaijan at least 10 percent of these people.
The first Shopping Festival, planned as an annual event, was held in Baku from April 10 to May 10, 2017. The second Shopping Festival took place from October 15 to November 15, 2017.
Azerbaijani and foreign guests, who made purchases worth more than 100 manats ($58.8) in stores labeled with the “Baku Shopping Festival - Tax Free” stickers, got an opportunity to return a certain part of the value-added tax (VAT) from the amount spent.
The certain part of the VAT amount was refunded in cash or by transfer to a customer’s card/bank account.
Earlier, it was reported that local banks returned to the participants of the second BSF VAT in the amount of 3.37 million manats ($1.98 million).
Moreover, during the second festival 204,686 tourist visited the country, which is 13 percent more compared to the same period last year.
The Azerbaijani government adopted the law “On non-cash payments” in order to strengthen accounting in the financial system, through the development of noncash payments.
The law envisages a limit for cashing operations. Banks and postal operators will charge a simplified tax (1 percent of the sum) to cash means kept in bank accounts of legal entities and private entrepreneurs.