LEGAL VACATIONS

The COVID-19 pandemic has severely influenced the global tourism industry over the past two years. Experts of the World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) believe that the recreational sector will not return to the levels of 2019 up until 2024.

While countries have just started lifting lockdown restrictions and openning up to tourism, Azerbaijan is actively developing and promoting new tourism products. The goal of initiated reforms is mainly to raise standards and improve the performance of the sector also thanks to a recently drafted and approved new law on tourism.

Improved performance

Although the global tourism industry is still 70% behind the pre-pandemic 2019 level, the UNWTO recorded a slight 4% increase at the end of last year. UN experts believe this positive trend was because of the success of vaccination and removal of lockdown restrictions on travel in most countries. This trend can be seen in the following statistical data as well: last year global tourism revenues reached $1.9 trillion, which is 200 billion more than during the pre-crisis 2019, mainly thanks to domestic tourism. Increase in monetary terms is due to the energy and food crisis, which has also started inflationary processes. After all, prices of foods, services, hotels, etc. became considerably higher in almost all regions of the world in 2021.

Azerbaijan has more or less suffered from all these difficulties as well. Nevertheless, last year there was a steady improvement in domestic tourism, while the number of Azerbaijani nationals travelling abroad increased several times. According to preliminary estimates, Azerbaijan was visited by some 800,000 foreign nationals. This indicator is completely different from that of 2019, 3.2 million, but, nevertheless, there is some positive dynamics compared to the previous year.

Situation in the industry is gradually changing for the better. According to the forecasts of the State Agency for Tourism (SAT) of Azerbaijan, Azerbaijan expects to have 50% more foreign tourists in 2022, also due to the removal of some lockdown restrictions, the reopening of major recreational facilities and the liberalisation of international air traffic. So, today the citizens of more than 80 countries of the world are permitted access to Azerbaijan by air. According to Fuad Naghiyev, head of SAT, thanks to this positive dynamics, Azerbaijan has a great potential to approach the pre-pandemic indicators of the tourist flow as early as next year.

The Azerbaijan Tourism Association (AzTA) also remains in a similar positive mood. AzTA Chairman of Board, Ahmed Gurbanov, believes that last year the interest of citizens to travel to regional holiday resorts increased significantly: “Hotels in regions were completely filled at weekends and partially filled on weekdays. The winter season at ski resorts was also very successful, with a ten-fold increase in the number of holidaymakers compared to 2020.

AzTA believes that 2022 will also be a good year for the tourism industry, as air and possibly land borders with a number of countries are expected to open. In this case, the flow of foreign tourists to Azerbaijan will increase considerably. At the same time, local hotels and holiday areas are preparing for the current spring-summer season by developing more competitive and interesting tourism products.

Advisor to SAT chairman Kenan Guluzade said that since last year large-scale efforts have been made to bring back foreign tourists to Azerbaijan. All opportunities are used to promote the Azerbaijani tourism brand in potentially attractive markets, also thanks to effective marketing mechanisms, including international exhibitions, promotional and information tours, etc.

Destination Garabagh

Since 2022, SAT, the Azerbaijan Tourism Bureau and other relevant institutions have also been working on conceptal documents. They collectively pay attention to promoting the tourism potential of the liberated territories of Garabagh, and in particular the city of Shusha. To this end, new opportunities for the tourism potential of this region have already been demonstrated at international exhibitions.

Azerbaijan also actively attracts investors at specialised tourism forums in Europe, Turkey, China and post-Soviet countries. Many local and foreign private companies are interested in the development of various areas of tourism in Garabagh, including thermal, mountaineering, winter, hunting, agricultural and green tourism. Plus, Azerbaijan has accelerated the development of aviation infrastructure in the region. Without it, mass reception of foreign tourists would be simply impossible. In October 2021, an international airport was commissioned in the Fuzuli district; two more airports are under construction in the districts of Zangilan and Lachin. “These airports will allow tourists to take advantage of the rich opportunities of the region and will contribute to the development of the tourism potential of Garabagh and East Zangezur,” Mr. Guluzadeh said.

Separate destinations and new routes are being built in the liberated territories of Azerbaijan. Declared a cultural capital of the Turkic world, Shsuha is likely to be the first city in the region where the relevant infrastructure and primary tourism potential will be completed as early as in 2023. This will make it possible to organise the reception of tourists as early as next year. As soon as the other liberated districts are cleared of mines and the construction of roads, energy facilities and utilities is complete, the development of the region's recreational potential will start. A regional tourism development strategy for Garabagh is being developed to transform the region into a new tourist destination. These projects cover cultural heritage, natural landscapes, historical monuments, etc. There are projects developed under the Zəfər yolu (Victory Route) concept, including YolumuzAğdama, YolumuzFüzuliyə, YolumuzXocavəndə, etc. under the SAT. It is expected that many of them be implemented in the coming years. According to SAT estimates, by 2025 about 1 million local and foreign tourists will be able to visit the liberated areas.

New law

Azerbaijan has also launched large-scale reforms in the tourism sector to improve its performance to international standards and create favourable conditions for investors and market participants. The new law on tourism will become effective on July 1, 2022 and will replacing the previous one introduced back in 1999.

The law consists of 22 articles and defines the principles of state regulation of the tourism sector, as well as sectoral priorities, identifies sources of funding for the upcoming projects, etc. The document is clearly aimed at improving the quality of domestic tourism. In particular, it approves a code of ethical conduct in the tourism industry, outlines the circumstances of compulsory assignment of stars to hotels. Violators of this rating system will be fined as much as ₼2,000-₼5,000. The law also defines penalties for failure to enter or late entry of information in the tourism registry, as well as failure to update this information. Selling of tour packages without insurance contracts is subject to very strict penalties. The law also defines the rules of training and certification of tour guides, as well as their certification in the state register. All these rules and mechanisms are designed in accordance with international standards. Under the law, it is possible to introduce new mechanisms for the development of recreational areas with minimum environmental impact and compliance with environmental standards.

According to Samir Dubendi, Executive Director of Ecotourism Association of Azerbaijan, all these measures are designed to promote the development of tourism and hotel sector at a different, international level. “According to official statistics, the number of hotels and similar facilities in Azerbaijan exceeds 650. In fact, a major portion of these facilities provided services without stars, which is a violation of the rights of tourists,” Mr. Dubendi noted. He said that the facts of inconsistency of services provided at hotels to the level of the declared category not only undermine the image of a particular tourist destination, but most importantly, it reduces the country's reputation as a whole. After the adoption of the law on tourism and mandatory certification of hotels, it will be rather difficult to violate the undertaken obligations. In case of negative reviews, the star level of hotels may be lowered, leading to the loss of their profits.

A few years ago, European experts were involved in the process of awarding stars in Azerbaijan to ensure transparency and objectivity. Azerbaijan Hotels Association, with the support of experts from the European Hotel Association (Hotrec), has developed a new national classification system.

All information on certified hotels and other facilities will be included in the tourism register, as also envisaged by the new draft law. Information about new hotels will be placed in the electronic databases of government agencies, while hotels themselves will be able to enter data on the number of rooms, beds, etc. into the register. The register and information it provides will also be useful for the hotels, expanding their marketing and advertising potential. In short, as noted by Fuad Naghiyev, Chairman of SAT, we need new approaches in the legislation and state regulation of tourism due to the dynamically changing trends in tourism development and global challenges. Therefore, it will be easier to solve the problems of regulators more effectively.