Azernews.Az

By Trend

The global turnover in the field of health tourism is measured in billions of dollars. This type of tourism, as an alternative one, is very relevant in Azerbaijan, Ruslan Guliyev, Chairman of the Azerbaijani Association for Support of Medical and Thermal Tourism and President of the World Health Tourism Organization, told Trend.

According to the Chairman, health tourism is very popular around the world, from America to Malaysia, and the number of people interested in it is growing year by year.

"Neither environmental disasters, nor local wars in various countries can prevent tourists from making health trips. Therefore, if other types of tourism are sometimes subject to recession, health tourism is always profitable. Usually such tourism involves treatment and staying for 7, 14 and 21 days. This is of great importance in terms of attracting tourists to the country, both in and off the season," Guliyev said.

According to the Chairman, this type of tourism is very relevant in our country as well: "Azerbaijan has a quality, which important for the health tourism, namely the availability of natural potential for the development of any directions in this field. Azerbaijan has already earned popularity as a tourist destination in this regard. The decrees and orders signed in recent years by President Ilham Aliyev play an important role in the development of this industry. These documents make it possible to define a roadmap for the development of tourism for at least the next 10 years. With that being said, I am pleased that these documents also gave a significant impetus to the development of the field of health tourism."

The chairman noted that health care facilities in Azerbaijan do not compete with each other.

"That is, each resort has its own purpose. In particular, Naftalan oil, which has no equal in the world, is mainly used to treat rheumatism, as well as joint and skin diseases. The water of Galaalti is used to treat kidney stone disease (nephrolithiasis), while the water of Duzdag is used to treat bronchial asthma. In its turn, the Istisu resort in Masalli has enormous benefits for patients with gastrointestinal diseases. It is interesting that Naftalan oil and mineral waters do not provide the same therapeutic effect, if consumed far from their sources, and it is necessary to popularize these locations. In fact, for us, the Azerbaijani Association for Support of Medical and Thermal Tourism, it is not at all difficult. We widely promote them, in accordance with their specific features, at various international events and exhibitions," Guliyev said.

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