Azernews.Az

By Nigar Orujova

Baku has been increasing the number of its licensed hotels as well as the number of hotels with stars.

In May, such companies as Via Group, Smile Travel, Talisman Travel, Qlobus, Master Holding, Pegas Tour, L.I Travel, Simurq S and Su-Travel gained their license to perform tourism activities, the Culture and Tourism Ministry reported on June 1.

Also, last month saw seven facilitiesproperly licensed in view of pursuing their hotel operations. These companies are Premier Expo Hotel, Goy Qursagi, Olimpik Idman ve Istirahet Kompleksi, and recreation centers MM Butik Otel, Bata-Bat, Dag Havasi and the hotel LT Otel.

The number of licensed travel agencies in Azerbaijan has reached 290 and the number of hotels - 328.

Azerbaijan is developing its tourism potential nowadays to turn into a main regional tourism destination in the coming years. Holding grand international events is part of this work.

This year, Azerbaijan expects tourists from around the world to attend the inaugural European Games in Baku in June. In the next coming years, the country will also hold the Islamic Solidarity Games, the Formula 1 race and quarterfinals and three group games of the Euro 2020.

A country of contrasts, Azerbaijan is planning to attract more tourists in the near future, increasing the tourists flow from 2 million to 5 million a year. The share of tourism in Azerbaijan's GDP stands at 2.4 percent or 1.3 billion manat.

In May, the Ministry assigned five stars to the following hotels: Hilton Hotel Baku, Samaxı Palace Platinum by Rixos, Qafqaz Resort Hotel in Gabala and four stars to hotels Duyma in Gabala and River Side in Mingachevir.

The number of hotels has now reached 530. Still, the country needs more low cost hotels to meet its budget tourists' needs.

Today, the country can accommodate over 35,000 tourists.

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Nigar Orujova is AzerNews’s staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @o_nigar

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