Land of Fire welcomes more foreign visitors in another record-breaking year for tourism
The number of international tourist arrivals in Azerbaijan has increased steadily almost every year.
In the first three months of this year the number of foreign visitors increased by a whopping 12.6 percent to 627,835 compared to the same period last year, with their total spending while here rising by 20 percent to a record. The ministry also noted that for the first two months of 2018, foreign tourists made operations in the amount of 190,927,699 manats ($111,981,005) through bank cards.
Meanwhile, the funds spent by Azerbaijani citizens abroad for the two months amounted to 179, 521, 339 manats ($105,291,060).
As for the countries whose citizens visited Azerbaijan in the three months, Russia was the first (171,814 people), followed by Georgia (138,909), Iran (99,158) and Turkey (72,733). Moreover, 29,317 people were citizens of the UAE, 11,847 of Ukraine and 11,112 of Iraq.
The majority of foreigners who arrived in Azerbaijan in this period accounted for the CIS and Georgia (342,457 people or 54.5 percent), Middle Eastern countries (166,976 people or 26.5 percent) and European countries (93,122 people or 14.8 percent).
Meanwhile, the state make all possible to improve and develop country’s tourism sector.
Ruslan Guliyev, Chairman of the Association for Support to Health and Thermal Tourism in Azerbaijan and President of the Global Healthcare Travel Council said that the state register of tourism can appear in Azerbaijan this year.
He noted that the creation of the register will help improve coordination in this area as well as facilitate the monitoring and control over the activities of tourism entities.
“The creation of the register will in no case contribute to bureaucratic obstacles. The collected statistics will help us coordinate the activities in this area more rationally in the future,” Guliyev said.
The tourism register is being created based on the order of President Ilham Aliyev dated September 1, 2016, with the aim of developing tourism in Azerbaijan and expanding the possibilities of using modern information and communication technologies in this sphere.
Companies and tourist facilities will be able to enter information about themselves in the register. Culture and Tourism Ministry together with the relevant public structures, in turn, will check the information posted in the system by companies, hotels or people.
Companies included in the register will also be involved in all international events as well as education and service improvement programs.
The country views tourism development as a priority in its efforts to diversify the non-oil economy. The number of foreign nationals who arrived in Azerbaijan last year increased by 20 percent compared to 2016, hitting the figure of 2,691,998 people. In general, for the past 10 years, the number of tourists visiting the country increased five-fold.
The Land of Fire, the popular destination for many tourists, attracts millions of visitors every year. The country is popular both for many archaeological and historical sites, and for modern tourist facilities created in Azerbaijan for the convenience of tourists. The tourists mainly visit the most popular destinations – Baku, Gabala, Guba and many other cities.
As for the tourism infrastructure, today Azerbaijan can accommodate about 40,000 tourists in its 575 hotels, which include a series of luxury ones – 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.