Kanan Guluzade: Government's recent decision to help promote tourism

The expansion of the list of countries whose citizens are allowed to enter and exit Azerbaijan will promote the development of tourism.

Report informs, citing spokesman of Azerbaijan's State Tourism Agency Kanan Guluzade, that the European countries are priority tourism markets for Azerbaijan.

"We suppose that this will create certain opportunities for tourism development. Currently, the residents of 29 countries are allowed to enter Azerbaijan. In the first place, these conditions were created for the citizens of Russia and Turkey. Later the list was enlarged by seven countries, including the countries of the Middle East and North America. We suppose that the geography will further expand. Global tourism starts to rebound as the world is fighting the pandemic and stepping up the vaccination process. But we cannot expect a full recovery this year. With the most optimistic approach, the sphere will get back to the indicators of 2019 in 2023. Global tourism, including Azerbaijan's, is predicted to recover in 2025."

"Compared to the last year, the indicators are growing. It refers to both those leaving Azerbaijan and those who arrive in our country from abroad. Last year, there was virtually no tourism," he said.