INEXPENSIVE TRAVEL

Terrorist attacks in Egypt and France will have an effect on the New Year's travel plans of many tourists from many countries. The downing of a Russian aircraft over "the land of the pyramids" could cause a fear of flying among sensitive travellers. The antiterrorism operations, searches, and limited freedom of movement are hardly a favourable atmosphere for tourism in the "city of love and freedom." The latest initiatives of several Russian parliamentarians to increase security measures along very popular tourist routes to Turkey, Tunisia, and the United Arab Emirates, are also leaving tourists uninspired. 

Taking all this into account, one can boldly assume that tourists will begin to look for new, safer regions for their New Year's vacations, and Azerbaijan has every right to contend for the position. Not to mention that Azerbaijanis themselves will likely prefer to relax in their homeland rather than in Europe.

In recent years tourism has been given constant attention in Azerbaijan. Whereas in previous years emphasis was placed on building modern hotel complexes for major international events and rich tourists, now the focus is on low-budget tourists. It's worth noting that on online hotel booking system Booking.com foreign tourist hold the services and comforts of Azerbaijani hotels in high regard. Unfortunately, when one compares Azerbaijan's variety with other countries and destinations, the assortment is limited. 

Booking.com lists only 239 hotels for all of Azerbaijan: 169 in Baku, 8 in Saki, 7 in Qabala, 5 in Qusar, 5 in Lankaran, 5 in Ganca, 4 in Sahdag, 3 in Naftalan, etc. 

For comparison, for Paris alone Booking.com lists 1,479 hotels, 2,140 apartments, 49 bed-and-breakfasts, and 16 hostels. Of course, at this point comparing the Azerbaijani capital with Paris, with its long and prestigious history in tourism, is premature. However, even if we look at the example of neighbouring Georgia, which shares Azerbaijan's Soviet past and has territorial conflicts of its own, then it is still clear that Azerbaijan lags behind.

Booking.com lists 2,807 places of accommodation for all of Georgia. Of these, 981 are listed in Tbilisi, which is four times the number of those listed for Baku. What's more, more than half of the accommodations cost less than 50 dollars a day, and 83 per cent do not have "stars". (By the way, Booking.com lists only three five-star hotels in Tbilisi.)

Yes, many residents of Azerbaijan, including Baku, offer their apartments for prices of less than 50 dollars a day. One need only take a look at advertisements in popular real estate listings. However, people, perhaps, do not widely advertise their offers out of fear of tax inspectors or the hotel licensing authorities. The result is that we cannot find such advertisements for Azerbaijan on Booking.com.

The situation on Booking.com is a fairly indicative factor. In the age of high technology most tourists prefer to plan out their trips online. Booking.com includes search, hotel booking, and the selection of sights to see, shopping trips to make, nightlife spots, etc. Yes, a certain amount of information of this sort is available about Azerbaijan on the World Wide Web, and in various languages. But often it is scattered over various local sites that remain unknown to most potential tourists. A global system that unites within itself information on tourist sites of dozens of countries worldwide is a different matter. Taking into account today's reality, the popularization of Azerbaijan's tourist potential on these information platforms, together with an accelerated development of low-budget tourism, can stimulate a large influx of tourists into the country. For that reason also worthwhile are additional steps on the part of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism to create databases for those who wish to rent out their living spaces, as well as cooperation on incorporating this information into the online hotel-booking systems of various websites for tourists. 

The regulating agency could also come out with proposals to encourage entrepreneurs who want to create low-budget tourism sites - this could mean temporary tax breaks, low-interest credit, etc. Meanwhile in Azerbaijan many are approaching the issue more conservatively, preferring to focus on the quality of the services offered. As for marketing Azerbaijan's tourism potential, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism is now betting on exhibiting the services of local companies at tourism exhibitions in various countries. In 2016 participation in 16 such events is planned. 

However, there are some signs of progress in the preparation of low-budget tour packages for those who come from some countries to Azerbaijan. For example, several days ago the first meeting of the joint working group created by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism and Azerbaijan Hava Yollari (AZAL) with the goal of more effectively advertising the potential for international tourism, as well as attracting more tourists in 2016. Among the issues discussed were low-budget tourist packages for citizens of countries with which AZAL carries out direct flights, taking into account their specifics, the decision-making processes of tourists from these countries, and their holidays and vacation times. In the near future the abovementioned agencies will sign a document on joint action in 2016. 

In a word, the relevant government agencies and organizations are fully aware that attracting low-budget tourists, including Russian ones, is held up only by a lack of consistency in policy. Much needs to be changed in the tourist infrastructure, and that means not only inexpensive places for tourists to stay, but also developing chains of inexpensive family restaurants with low prices.