Azerbaijan, amazing blend of ancient and modern cultures
By Amina Nazarli
Breathtaking landscape, triumphant architecture, thriving cosmopolitan cities -- these are all about beautiful Azerbaijan, the largest republic of the Caucasus.
Calling itself as the 'Land of Fire', the country is a land of contrasts. Neither Europe nor Asia, it's a nexus of ancient historical empires, but also a modern life and nation rapidly transforming itself and keeping pace with rapidly developing countries.
Its cosmopolitan capital, Baku, rings a Unesco-listed ancient
core with dazzling 21st-century architecture and sits on the
oil-rich Caspian Sea.
All these and more make the Baku, which is informally called the
"City of Winds", as one of the tourist destinations in the region
for the past years.
The development of the tourism industry is one of the main economic
issues of any state. The most important work on this way is
informing future guests about the natural and historical beauties,
a high level of security and developed infrastructure of the
country.
Conducting world-class sporting events is a win-win option that
allows to attract a large number of foreign guests, as they take
away with them memory about event and local attractions and, of
course, the hospitality of the inhabitants.
This June, Baku hosted famous Grand Prix Formula 1, right after the first European Games last year. The main feature of this race was the track, laid directly through the center of one of the oldest cities in the continent -- Baku. This original course was very effective, as the capital conquered hearts not only the fans but also the riders themselves.
Recently, Baku was included Top 3 of popular sport summer cities
among Russian tourists, followed by Paris and following Rio de
Janeiro, according to tourist service Travel.ru.
Another Russian site Oktogo.ru reported that one-day stay in the
capital during the Baku Grand Prix made up $40, while ticket for
the three-day entrance from $200.
Dmitriy Savelyev, Head of inter-parliamentary group of
Azerbaijan-Russia friendship said that Azerbaijan has long been an
expert in the field of world-class events, and not just sports
events.
“Formula 1 racing held at the highest level in Baku, only once again confirmed that Azerbaijan today is able to conduct any largest and most significant sporting event of Europe,” he emphasized.
One of the problems, which previously foreigners who wished to visit the country, faced was difficulties with obtaining a visa. Now, the procedure for issuing visas to foreign nationals has been greatly simplified, thanks to ASAN visa system, which decreased the number of visa issuance day to three.
Expert in tourism Bahadir Bilalov noted that simplification of visa procedure would be beneficial for the development of tourism in Azerbaijan.
“The difficulty of obtaining a visa in our country was criticized, and what is now a visa will be available within three working days thanks to the ASAN Viza,” he said. “In countries that are betting on tourism, such as Turkey, Egypt and Thailand, visa obtaining is quite simple. Tourist gets a visa at the airport upon arrival in the country, paying for it a small amount. Such procedure is impossible in Azerbaijan yet, because of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, which does not allow to simplify the visa regime to such an extent.”
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Amina Nazarli is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on
Twitter: @amina_nazarli
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