TRAVEL SHOW

The dynamic development of the tourism sector in recent years has allowed the industry to become one of the most important areas of the domestic economy alongside energy, agriculture, transportation, information, etc. The country’s achievements in the development of the recreational sector have been demonstrated by the 12^th International Tourism and Travel Fair, AITF-2013, which was completed in Baku at the end of last week. As part of this major regional forum, the 7th Specialized Exhibition "Everything for hotels, restaurants and supermarkets”, HOREX-2013, was also held at the Baku Expo Centre.

The development of tourism is difficult to imagine without strong information support – organization of international tourism conferences and exhibitions. The importance of the tourism exhibition for Azerbaijan is confirmed by the attention being paid to this area by ​​the country's leadership. This year’s AITF exhibition has been visited by President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev and his wife Mehriban Aliyeva.

This year’s forum has registered a noticeable growth in the number of companies and of the geography of partner countries. A total of 251 companies from 35 countries representing more than 60 travel spheres have joined the Baku show. The growth of the exposition area by almost 20 per cent indicates an increasing interest of foreign travel agencies and relevant international organizations in Azerbaijan’s tourism market and, most importantly, is evidence of a growing number of tourists from abroad.

"The measures taken last year have paved the way for 2.5 million foreign visitors, including 1.9 million tourists. Thus, the volume of foreign tourist flow last year increased by 16 per cent compared to 2011,” Minister of Culture and Tourism Abulfaz Qarayev told the opening ceremony of AITF-2013. “Given the rapid development of the tourism industry, we expect 70 to 80 per cent growth in foreign tourist flow in the next five to six years." Additional incentive for this will be provided by the recent introduction of a system of electronic visas, enabling "everyone coming to Azerbaijan to quickly and remotely resolve all visa issues". A15-dayvisawillcostforeignersonly $26.

This year show has attracted tour operators from Montenegro, Tunisia, Canada, Monaco, Morocco for the first time. AITF-2013 has also been remembered by a significant increase in the number of stands representing countries of South-East Asia: exotic destinations are promoted by companies from Indonesia, Malaysia, Mauritius, Seychelles, Thailand, etc. Traditional destinations include Turkey, North Cyprus, Georgia, Czech Republic, Slovakia, United Arab Emirates.

As always, the stand of the Ministry of Tourism of Azerbaijan presented segments of domestic tourism, while new products and destinations in the field of active recreation were presented by leading private travel agencies, recreation centers and health resorts of the country. Local participants demonstrated stands describing the tourism opportunities of 22 regions of Azerbaijan. It is noteworthy that last year, declared as the Year of Tourism and "Eurovision-2012” song contest in Azerbaijan, proved very productive for attracting foreign tourists to the country’s regions – a 10-12-per cent increase in tourist flow was observed almost universally. At the same time, the Ministry is developing targeted programs for individual prospective destinations. In particular, a state program for the development of the tourist potential of the northern regions covering Quba, Xacmaz and Sabran is being prepared for adoption. "If you look at the current state of tourism in the country’s regions, it must be noted that whereas earlier even adequate sanitation conditions were not available in regional hotels, now each region has at least one or two hotels that meet international standards", Minister Qarayev said.

The pace of development of the domestic recreational sector is quite impressive: the country currently has about 510 hotels. In the last five years, the number of seats in them has increased three-fold, reaching 35,000. Late last year, some facilities of the Sahdag ski tourist complex started to operate. Also, six five-star hotels of world famous brands were put into operation in the past two years, while another is scheduled for commissioning in the latter half of this year. This year the foundation was laid for another long-term trend of the domestic hotel industry - large-scale construction of inexpensive three-star hotels has been started. "The Ministry has prepared the necessary regulations and identified priority districts where construction of budget hotels is planned. These recommendations have been submitted to entrepreneurs,” Culture and Tourism Minister Abulfaz Qarayev has told R +. “In particular, the construction of the first three three-star hotels has already started in Baku. A total of six such facilities will be built in Baku by mid-2015 for the first European Summer Olympics."

The development of a modern tourist infrastructure is essential for increasing the domestic and foreign tourist flow. For example, last year the number of foreign tourists increased by 16 per cent, and is a comparable growth is projected for the current year.

Azerbaijan is interested in expanding bilateral ties in the post-Soviet space and with foreign countries in order to intensify tourism exchange. Within the framework of AITF-2013, fruitful talks have been held with the Ministry of Resorts and Tourism of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, memoranda of tourism cooperation between the two countries signed, and a permanent representative office of Crimean resorts and tour companies opened in Baku. According to last year's data, about 20,000 Azerbaijani citizens had rest in the Crimea, while 70 per cent of them preferred sanatorium opportunities of the peninsula. Apparently, the spa segment has been selected as the main direction of links with the Crimean autonomy. At the same time, our country has expressed an interest in organizing a reverse flow of tourists from Ukraine, offering recreational opportunities of Naftalan with its unique medicinal oil as an alternative.

 The Ministry makes effort to integrate Azerbaijan’s tourism sector into Europe. A presentation of a twinning project of the European Union, "Capacity building of the tourism department under the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of Azerbaijan", was held during the AITF-2013 show. The 15-month project will be implemented by the Lithuanian State Department of Tourism and the Austrian Federal Agency for Supplies. Consisting of four components, the project will improve the position of Azerbaijan on the index of competitive travel and tourism, provide support in the attraction of new public and private investment, expand the flow of tourists, especially from Europe, and lead to an increase in revenues in the industry.