Azerbaijan sees increase in number of visitors

In the first two months of 2024, the number of tourists arriving in Azerbaijan climbed by 46.7 percent compared to the same time of the previous year, totaling 341,000 persons, a member of the Azerbaijani Parliament Committee on Economic Policy, Industry, and Entrepreneurship Vugar Bayramov wrote on his social media account, Azernews reports.

During this period, the top three countries were neighboring countries: 26.8 percent of tourists came from Russia, 19.9 percent from Türkiye, and 9.8 percent from Iran. 6.9 percent of the total number of tourists were from India, 4.8 percent from Georgia, and 3.4 percent from Saudi Arabia.

"As of 2023, the leader in the number of tourists is China. Compared to the same period last year, the number of arrivals from China increased 4.1 times, Saudi Arabia - 2.8 times, India - 2.7 times, Kyrgyzstan - 2.6 times, Bahrain - 2.5 times, Kazakhstan - 2.4 times, Tajikistan - 2.4 times, Philippines - 2.0 times, Oman - 1.9 times, Spain - 1.9 times, Uzbekistan - 1.9 times, South Korea - 1.9 times, Jordan - 1.8 times, Italy - 1.8 times, Turkmenistan - 1.7 times, Egypt - 1.7 times, Yemen - 1.7 times, Kuwait - 1.6 times, Iran - 1.6 times. The number of arrivals from Arab countries is once again on the rise. The number of arrivals from the Gulf States increased by 1.7 times from January through February this year. The same growth was recorded for tourists from the European Union. The growth of arrivals from CIS countries is relatively small: only 31.4 percent.

Official statistics suggest an increase in the number of immigrants from Gulf countries, particularly Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. In general, the number of tourists increased as the number of flights from Baku increased, as did the number of economy-class flights. At the same time, there is a growth in interest in Azerbaijan's seasonal tourism potential," the publication says.