YEAR OF TRAVEL

There have been two landmark events this year for the development of Azerbaijan's leisure industry: the president declared 2011 the Year of Tourism and Azerbaijan won the Eurovision Song Contest which promises the country an unprecedented flow of tourists from Europe next year and beyond. These factors have acted as a catalyst for positive change in the tourism sector and for new initiatives at the Ministry of Culture and Tourism.

Lower prices - higher quality

In 2009-10, the country's tourism industry faced a noticeable decrease in demand for its services for the first time. A significant portion of the public chose the resorts of Turkey, Egypt or the UAE which had become cheaper in the wake of the global crisis. In order to overcome the recession, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism took a series of measures to help reduce prices and improve the quality of service in the country's resort areas.

The ministry specialists focused on providing consultative assistance for businesses: at the start of the current season, expert groups of the ministry completed initial monitoring of tourist sites located in the northeast and west of the country, in particular Qax and Xacmaz districts. The main goal of the survey was to identify common problems in the leisure sector and provide recommendations on how to improve services in the districts. The ministry conducted monitoring in other parts of the country too.

According to the minister of culture and tourism, Abulfas Qarayev, many flaws in the organization of tourist attractions were discovered. "We are helping the owners of tourist sites to quickly eliminate the shortcomings and improve their performance in the current tourist season. And these efforts have borne fruit - the northern and southern districts have recorded a 15- and 20-per cent decline in prices for travel services, which is very gratifying. Reduction of prices for domestic holiday-making is our top priority, and we will continue to make every effort to encourage the public to take a holiday in our own country," Qarayev said.

Growing interest in holidays in Azerbaijan was seen in the first eight months of this year: tourism facilities in the districts were visited by around 168,000 people, nearly a quarter more than last year. This increase is partly explained by a 36.3-per-cent reduction in the number of Azerbaijani citizens wanting to holiday abroad. Whereas 55,000 Azerbaijanis travelled to popular international resorts last year, their number fell to 35,000 this year. Azerbaijanis are now opting for domestic resorts where prices are lower and service is of higher quality. Accordingly, the average use of tourist facilities in the country's districts has markedly increased. During the peak summer season, July and August, the occupancy of camp sites and resorts was at least 40 per cent on weekdays, while on weekends it was almost 100 per cent.

The increase in the number of tourists is partly due to a 14-per-cent increase in tourists coming to Azerbaijan, mainly from the former Soviet Union. According to last year's figures, Azerbaijan is most popular with tourists from Russia - 701,000. Then comes Georgia, 492,000, while Iran and Turkey are in third and fourth places, with 350,000 and 215,000 people respectively. Over the first eight months of this year Azerbaijan was visited by 1.9 million foreign guests, of whom 1.5 million can be classified as tourists. According to the ministry, the number of foreign travellers to our country may reach 2.1 million by the end of 2011.

Yet the main reason for the growing number of tourists has been the substantial decline in prices for vacations. The average price for a holiday at tourist sites in the northeast of the country was around 40 manats per day and around 30-35 manats per day in the west and south. "Just a year or two ago, most resorts and recreation facilities were offering food for an additional fee. There was only free breakfast at best. But today, many facilities offer three meals a day on the 'all inclusive' principle, and only for a small extra charge," says the head of a department at the Ministry of Tourism, Aydin Ismiyev.

In addition to the direct reduction in prices, many regional tour companies have begun to provide additional services almost without changing the total cost of the tour package. Specifically, this includes guided tours, hiking and other active forms of recreation, access to attractions and beach activities, rental of equipment and the provision of different services.

Ministry experts and representatives of the tourist business are also paying attention to compliance with the health and safety standards required under licensing regulations. Effective measures were taken to curb the work of a number of leisure sites operating without a permit. Today there are 504 tourist sites in Azerbaijan, and over two-thirds of them operate on the basis of licences issued by the ministry. Measures envisaged under legislation are taken over other sites that operate without a permit and are mainly located in the districts. This summer the ministry revoked the licences of leisure facilities Xazar and Sahil located in Lankaran and Qabala districts as they failed to comply with quality standards.

The ministry has also established a commission for the certification of tour guides in accordance with a charter developed by its own specialists. Qualified guides will receive special cards. Those who do not possess sufficient knowledge of the region's history and cultural monuments and who do not speak foreign languages will not have the right to provide services as a guide.

In 2010 and especially in 2011 the Ministry of Tourism spared no effort to provide online services and set up multilingual interactive sites for hotels and leisure facilities. Significant attention is paid to the creation of electronic and print content, including journals, booklets, handbooks and maps that provide information about the country's tourism potential and historical and cultural monuments.

Future plans

These listed activities are only a small part of the plan for major reform of the leisure sector in the current Year of Tourism, ahead of the numerous visitors who will arrive for the Eurovision Song Contest in spring next year.

The most important issue is sufficient hotel capacity in Azerbaijan. Despite the global economic recession, the number of new hotels, resorts, camp sites and other recreation facilities is increasing rapidly and already exceeds 500. Today, there is accommodation for 32,000 visitors, including 11,000 in Baku. Six five-star hotels will be put into operation in Baku alone this year and early next year. Two of them, Kempinski Badamdar and the Baku Hilton, are already in operation, while other luxury hotels such as the Flame Tower, Four Seasons, Absheron-JW Marriot and Dedeman Hotels Resorts International are scheduled to open later this year.

At the same time, the core of the country's hotel potential is formed by relatively small and lower-class facilities. The need for such facilities is extremely high, especially in Baku ahead of an influx of tens of thousands of visitors, mostly from Europe, in May next year. "Since most tourists will be young people who plan to attend the music festival in Baku, the ministry intends to encourage entrepreneurs to build two- or three-star hotels," Abulfas Qarayev said. Small and relatively modest guest houses and hotels have been successfully advancing the tourism potential of Europe for decades and it looks as though the development of this trend will also be fundamental to our country for many years to come. 

The creation of tourism infrastructure, which is affordable in terms of price and acceptable in terms of quality of service, will help increase the number of visitors with each passing year. According to Qarayev, foreign tourists brought around 1.5 billion manats to the tourist industry last year. According to the ministry's calculations, in the next five years our country will reach a level of three to four million tourists annually. 

"The action plan associated with 2011 as the Year of Tourism in Azerbaijan", approved by the head of state, provides an enabling environment to accelerate the positive trends in tourism. 

Most of the tasks for the Year of Tourism are associated with the need to rationalize the use of the country's recreational resources, the promotion and advertising of our sights, natural and geographical resources, historical and cultural sites. The implementation of this plan will stimulate the development of not just one area of recreation and travel. Given the profound relationship between culture and tourism, we must take advantage of the leisure sector to show the world the rich culture of our people. Besides, the influx of foreign visitors means more profits and opportunities, and culture will definitely benefit from that, the ministry believes.

One area of the action plan addresses training for the sector, the further development of the Tourism Institute and the establishment of several secondary specialized educational institutions.

There are also plans that the Ministry of Economic Development will provide low-interest loans to small and medium-sized tourist companies. Additional incentives will be envisaged to attract major local and foreign investment to the development of recreational and resort areas. According to the action plan, special trips to different tourist areas are organized for children from poor families, disabled kids and orphans as part of various cultural events. Foreign tourists coming to Azerbaijan with vouchers can buy tickets at a discounted price. The introduction of a simplified visa regime is also planned for such tourists. This may involve special rates for air, sea, international and local bus services. Therefore, the State Migration Service, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Culture and Tourism are expected to develop proposals.

Major changes are also expected in the management of recreational areas and tourism infrastructure development. In particular, roads to historical and cultural reserves and protected monuments will be landscaped and refurbished within one year and tourist road signs installed. The establishment of the summer and winter tourist complex Sahdag will be expedited, extra work will be carried out to create tourism infrastructure in the cultural and historical reserves of Sabran and Lahic, and a modern map developed. The country is expected to introduce a new mechanism to manage Caspian beaches. Its development has been entrusted to the ministries of tourism, environment, economic development and emergency situations. The main objectives are to step up control over economic and commercial activities in the coastal zone, provide easy access to beaches, create environmental and public order all along the coastal zone. Changes are also envisaged in legislation. Thus, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism and the Ministry of Justice are to submit to parliament a new draft law "On tourism" in the next two months. The law is scheduled for adoption by the Milli Maclis before the end of this year. Under this law, a state inventory of tourism resources is to be created. The evaluation of tourism resources and their inclusion in the inventory will help determine the status of tourism resources, their geographical location, boundaries, scientific, economic, ecological and cultural value, protection status, as well as prospects for future use.