STAR RATINGS

In 2014, minimum standards for hotels and hotel-type facilities have been established for the first time in Azerbaijan. It has become necessary to introduce "minimum standards" because the number of hotel industry premises in Azerbaijan is growing from year to year. But this will not have any effect on the pricing policy, although, in the opinion of not only the majority of hotel-users, but of the experts too, this policy leaves much to be desired. This is why the residents of Azerbaijan prefer to take their holidays abroad, noting that tourism at home makes a sizeable hole in your pocket while failing to deliver a high standard of service. 

Some experts believe that the problem is not so much that the services that hotels provide are expensive, but that there are insufficient three-star hotels. For some reason, entrepreneurs do not think it necessary to build three-star hotels, probably because they think they get less profit from them. But practice throughout the world shows that the return on investments in three-star accommodation is usually higher than that from hotels with five-star ratings.

Boosting quantity and quality is the aim

Azerbaijan's State Committee for Standardisation, Metrology and Patents has established a new set of state standards "Minimum requirements for hotels and hotel-type facilities" - AZS 755-2014. These have been adopted for the purpose of improving the quality of the services offered to tourists, ensuring safety standards and the competence of staff employed in hotels and hotel-type facilities. These standards apply to types of hotels, the rules for organising an evaluation system in compliance with the minimum standards applicable to hotels and other accommodation facilities, as well as regular inspections of such premises.

From now on these requirements will form the basis for monitoring hotels. The first checks on hotels and hotel-type facilities in Azerbaijan to ensure they comply with the new minimum standards will be conducted in 2019 and will examine the last five years of these facilities' operation.

At the same time, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism is planning to take certain steps to make it even easier to obtain a licence to run a hotel, in particular, licence applications can already be filed online. "The Ministry is continually receiving proposals on how to make the licensing process simpler, so it may become even easier in the future," it was noted at the Ministry, adding that at the present time there is a need to make it easier for those wishing to acquire a licence to get together the necessary documentation. 

According to the statistics published by Azerbaijan's Ministry of Culture and Tourism, at the present time only 48 hotels and hotel-type facilities in the country have undergone state classification and are operating according to their star ratings' category. Of them 19 are five-star hotels, 22 are four-star hotels, five are three-star hotels, and two are two-star hotels. In Baku there are 15 hotels in the five-star category, 12 in the four-star category and four in the three-star category. There are some two-star hotels in the regions. 

Hotels' "star ratings" are valid for three years. The star-rating period for most state-rated hotels in Azerbaijan ran out in 2013 or ceased to be valid in January this year. These hotels were subjected to classification in December 2010 to January 2011. At the present time, the Ministry is examining applications for these hotels to be awarded these "star-ratings" for the second time round.

According to the available data, there are more than 500 hotels and hotel-type facilities in the country… So, this means that the rest are not even covered by any "star-ratings".

Tight deadlines

From this year onwards the Ministry of Culture and Tourism is to step up its inspections and apply rigorous standards to hotels operating without a licence. The minister, Abulfas Qarayev, has explained that the main aim here is to ensure that every single hotel should be licensed by the time the First European Games are held in Baku.

Over the last couple of years Baku has become a venue for important events welcoming visitors from abroad and this is set to continue in the forthcoming years. The European Games are to take place in Baku in June 2015. Two years after that, in 2017, the Islamic Solidarity Games are to be held in Azerbaijan. Besides this, in May 2015 three to four thousand representatives of the NGOs [ Non-Government Organisations], members of the general public, private and state sectors from 67 countries, members of the Asian Development Bank are expected in Baku to attend the annual conference of the board of bank supervisors. In the run-up to this event various conferences, seminars and business forums may be held in Azerbaijan's capital for a few days.   

It is obvious that these events are vital to the development of the country's tourist industry: the holding of the "Eurovision" song contest in Baku in 2012 was a kind of long-term investment in the country's image as a new tourist destination. Now at international tourism exhibitions and fairs there is no longer any need to explain what kind of country Azerbaijan is and what it can offer to tourists. Azerbaijan's successful holding of the song contest proved that it is well able to host any major event in the future.

However, besides boosting the number of licensed "star-rated" hotels, another important aim is to improve the quality of the services offered in the tourist industry. In this connection, Minister Abulfas Qarayev has ordered that there should be a rigorous quality-control clampdown on hotel operations found to have serious shortcomings during the inspections conducted at regional hotels and hotel-type facilities in May-June last year. This is one of the very important aspects in promoting tourism at home. Starting the year before last, Azeris have begun to holiday at home more regularly, and, in the opinion of A. Qarayev, entrepreneurs should take notice of this trend.

It should be noted that the unique geographical and climatic conditions in Azerbaijan, where nine of the world's 11 main climatic zones can be found, as well as the country's ancient history and culture, make it possible to promote many different types of tourism in the country.

For example, there are not only historic monuments in Baku to interest the tourists there, but also the unique mud volcanoes in the capital's environs and the rock drawings in Qobustan. Azerbaijan's travel agents also offer spa tourism and over the last few years winter sports have been gaining increasing popularity; the first shoots of gastro-, sports, extreme and other forms of tourism have emerged too. 

In short, Azerbaijan does have the necessary elements to become a successful tourist destination: a hospitable population, a rich history and cultural heritage, beautiful landscapes, delicious cuisine and also an extremely favourable geographical location. The main thing is to present all this in a worthy manner. Then the profitability, not only the financial profits but also a more beneficial image, will be guaranteed.