TODAY.AZ / Business

Gulf countries choose Land of Fire

17 August 2016 [14:00] - TODAY.AZ

By Azernews

By Amina Nazarli

The highest profitability of tourism business turns the tourism sector into one of the valuable spheres in Azerbaijan, which seeks to be world-famous tourism destination.

This year, the Land of Fire experiences a rise in number of tourist flow, especially from Gulf countries, Iran and Russia.

The country welcomes about 600 tourists from Gulf countries on a daily basis according to statistics. Daily flights performed by companies such as "Azerbaijan Airlines", "FlyDubai" and "Qatar Airways" prove the figures.

In addition, a direct flight performed by Iraqi Airways en route Baghdad-Baku-Baghdad allowed Iraqi tourists to visit the Land of Fire more frequently.  This year the majority of tourists come from Iraq, number of whom reached 11,028 people, followed by visitors from the UAE making up 10,086 people.

Since early 2016, the number of tourists arriving from Arab countries in Azerbaijan reached 25,000, the Culture and Tourism Ministry told Sputnik. The figure records an eightfold increase compared to last year.

Advisor to the AzTA Chairman Muzaffar Agakerimov, commenting on the rising number of Arab tourists, said that mostly Arab tourists come to Azerbaijan with their family for 5-7 days. “This is a good indicator for the tourism sector, since the longer guests stay, the more money they spend,” Agakerimov noted.

Agakerimov believes that the tourists inflow form Gulf countries has several reasons. First of all, starting this February all international airports of Azerbaijan has introduced a simplified system for issuing visas, which led to a growth in tourist traffic from Qatar, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait and other countries.

Developments in the Middle East have also changed geography of tourist flow. Another positive factor, which makes guests to choose Azerbaijan, is religion, since the bulk of the country's population is Muslim, what attracts tourists from Muslim countries.

Beyond having a high standard tourism infrastructure, the country also offers lower prices. Following the double devaluation in 2015, the prices of hotels and services in tourism sector automatically dropped, and since then has remained unchanged.  The expert believes that this is a major factor in stimulating tourism in the Land of Fire.

“Everyone knows that Azerbaijan is a very hospitable country. Here we are glad to welcome everyone. People witness the highest stability in the country. Day by day the country prospers and becomes more attractive. In addition, our national cuisine is loved by Arab tourists,” Agakerimov explained.

Thus, the country can earn billions on tourism in case the sector is further boosted. Now plans are being hatched to create special tourism zones in the coastal zone of the Caspian Sea.

Recently, Deputy Economy Minister Sevinj Hasanova said that the country plans to establish new special tourist zones. “The creation of special tourist zones, in particular, planned to be provided in the Caspian Sea, which contributes to the development of beach tourism and tourism infrastructure,” she emphasized.

Today, Azerbaijan is able to accommodate from 35,000 to 40,000 tourists per day. The World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC), in its 2016 report analyzing data from previous years and providing a forecast for the future, stated that Azerbaijan has made significant progress in the tourism sector.

WTTC experts noted that Azerbaijan was able to earn 2,678 billion manats (about $1.8 billion) thanks to tourists. For comparison, Azerbaijan’s revenues from this sector were 654 million manats ($430 million) in 2010, and a year later the country earned 988 million manats ($650 million).

URL: http://www.today.az/news/business/153474.html

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