Azernews.Az

By Ofeliya Afandiyeva

Azerbaijan has seen increase in the number of tourists visiting the country.

Some 2 million 679 thousand foreign citizens visited Azerbaijan in January-October 2019, the State Tourism Agency has reported.

This figure is 10.9 per cent more than in the same period in 2018. The highest increase was recorded in October. Thus, tourists’ number rose by 25 percent in October 2019 compared to the same period in 2018. Most tourists were from Russia, Georgia, Iran, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, as well as other CIS countries.

2019 also saw an increase in the number of tourists from Europe. The UK, Germany, Italy, Poland and France are among the countries with growth, whereas the number of tourists from the Middle East dropped in 2019. However, the number of tourists from Saudi Arabia and Iraq has risen and these two countries made it to the top 20 countries for the number of tourists visiting Azerbaijan, according to the State Tourism Agency.

"The autumn-winter tourism season has just started. As it was in summer, a growing tendency is expected in new season as well,” a source withing the agency said.

The most visited places by foreign citizens are Baku, Shaki, Gabala, Ganja and Lankaran.

It should be noted that Azerbaijan occupies the 39th place among 148 countries in terms of global competitiveness in tourism.

In recent years, the creation of diversified tourism infrastructure in Azerbaijan has increased the interest of foreign tourists to the country. There are many opportunities for tourism in our country, including rural, health, environmental, cultural, social, commercial, sports and etc.