Developments & challenges in hotel industry on agenda of association meeting in Baku

Developments and challenges in the hotel industry were on the agenda of the 5th General Assembly of the Azerbaijan Hotel Association (AHA) in Baku.

The assembly highlighted the annual reports of the Azerbaijan Hotel Association and the star rating process based on the National Star Classification.

Speaking at the assembly, Chairman of the State Tourism Agency Fuad Nagiyev stressed the development of the hotel industry in the country.

He added that 150 hotels have applied to the National Star Classification, which has been successfully implemented for two years.

At the same time, the classification of about 100 hotels has been completed. Some 44 hotels have been awarded 3, 4, and 5 stars.

Noting that only a small part of the applications made to obtain the star category meet the set requirements, the head of the agency said that there are a large number of hotels that have to be re-audited or have to re-apply for the classification due to numerous inconsistencies.

Fuad Nagiyev noted that the increase in the number of hotels with a star certificate will stimulate healthy competition, which will ultimately stimulate the development of the hotel industry and contribute to a more complete implementation of the law of supply and demand.

Chief Executive Officer of the Azerbaijani Tourism Board (ATB) Florian Sengstschmid said that although the process of awarding the star category was delayed due to the pandemic, it is being dynamically implemented again, especially with the new law coming into force. Advisory support to hotels is provided by the State Tourism Board and Azerbaijan Hotel Association.

"Global tourism is recovering and we must be ready for this return in a stronger form. We predicted a resurgence in tourism as people want to get out of their houses and explore new places. Of course, this creates a number of difficulties in airports and hotels. We are planning to re-enter the market in 2023 and focus on tourists from the South, Middle East, and Central Asia. It is somewhat difficult to attract Asian tourists considering the general situation. Nevertheless, Azerbaijan's rich cuisine and unique nature can help us to achieve our goal in this work. Our tourism exchange with Saudi Arabia has been successfully carried out in the past years, now we have chosen to work with other regions of the world," he said.

Within the framework of the assembly, an award ceremony was held for hotels and hospitality industry representatives that were highly rated based on guest reviews this year, as well as the results of the voting for the election of AHA Board members and the chairman were announced.

Eldar Alimuradov was elected the new chairman of the Board of Directors.

Later, the assembly continued its work with panel sessions.