TODAY.AZ / Business

Tourist flow gaining momentum in Azerbaijan

27 October 2014 [10:08] - TODAY.AZ

/AzerNews/

By Nigar Orujova

Accommodation cost is one of the main issues in the minds of all tourists while deciding about their destination.

In Azerbaijan, accommodation cost is moderate. An average daily cost of accommodation in Azerbaijani hotels stood at 77.8 manats (about $99) in January-June, the State Statistics Committee reports.

The average daily cost of accommodation in hotels of Baku in the mentioned time exceeded the prices of hotels around the country reaching 125.9 manats ($160).

So, the income of the local hotels rose by 0.4 percent and reached 79.8 million manats. ($101.6 million)

Most of the guests in Azerbaijan's hotels are foreigners.

Some 527 hotels were functioning in Azerbaijan in January-June. Compared to the same period last year, the number of guests in the hotels across the country grew by 0.5 percent to 319,000. Over 58.8 percent of them were foreigners.

In this period, the number of foreign tourists increased by 1,500 compared to the same period last year and amounted to 187,700 people, while the number of Azerbaijanis in the hotels amounted to 131,300 people. This shows the rising number of local tourists in Azerbaijan.

The country is developing its tourism sector by all means, to make it more affordable and comfortable for both local and foreign tourists. However, the sector is thriving in the capital Baku.

Thus in the mentioned period, 70.5 percent of tourists in the country stayed in the hotels of Baku. The capital is a modern and attractive city for many people, local and from abroad. There are many places to visit in Baku, but there are also a lot of undiscovered attractions in the regions.

Besides Baku, tourists prefer to visit Nakhchivan, Naftalan, Khachmaz, Lankaran, Guba, Ismayilli, Masalli, and Sheki.

It should also be noted that among the local tourists traveling across Azerbaijan, 52.7 percent were residents of Baku.

Earlier, Deputy Minister of Culture and Tourism Nazim Samadov said the main suppliers of tourists to Azerbaijan are Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan and other CIS countries. About 40 percent, out of more than 2.5 million foreigners who visited our country in 2013, were citizens of CIS countries.

The growth in the number of tourists from Russia amounted to 3.1 percent, from Kazakhstan 11.6 percent, from Belarus - 17.2 percent, and from Ukraine 22.2 percent, he added.

At present, Azerbaijan has the capacity to accommodate about 35,000 tourists. The number of travel agencies and hotels is increasing. The country is also keen to facilitate visa-acquiring process for tourists.

In the near future, foreign tourists will be able to receive e-visa to Azerbaijan through travel agencies, the parliament has decided.

The expiring period of such visa will be 30 days, and it will need documents specified in the Migration Code, as well as a travel voucher, and passenger ticket.

Since September, visa regime was also simplified between Azerbaijan and the European Union. The agreements make it easier and cheaper for all Azerbaijanis and citizens of the EU, especially for those who travel a lot, to acquire short-stay visas.

A short-stay visa is a visa for an intended stay of no more than 90 days per period of 180 days. Under the agreement, visa fees were reduced two-fold from 60 euro to 35 euro.

Today Azerbaijan with its natural beauties, history, art, and international events, has turned into a tourist destination and any chance to facilitate visa gaining will only increase the tourist flow.

URL: http://www.today.az/news/business/137203.html

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