By Amina Nazarli

Azerbaijan, located in a southeast part of Transcaucasian region, and Egypt, located in the northeastern corner of Africa, seek to open a new stage of cooperation in tourism.

To further develop relations and discuss the prospects, representatives of Egypt’s Tourism Administration and the Association of Hoteliers visited the capital Baku this week.

Alongside the official delegation representatives of 13 leading Egyptian tour operators also visited the country to establish fruitful cooperation with local companies providing tourist services.

The Egyptian delegation led by Ahmed Shoukry, the head of the international tourism sector at the Tourism Activation Authority, Ahmed Ayoub, the head of the Hoteliers Association of Egypt, representatives of Egypt Tourism Federation Adel El Haggar and Ali Gonaym, and Fathy Attia, the commercial director at the Egyptian Air Cairo airline, as well as Egyptian Ambassador to Azerbaijan Suzanne Mohamed Gamil gave press conference on the results of the visit.

At the event, the Egyptian side announced that they are ready to offer new and attractive best quality packages for Azerbaijani tourists.

After a slight fall, the tourist flow from Azerbaijan to the Egyptian popular resorts rose again in 2011-2013. For the past two years thousands of Azerbaijanis visited Egypt. The most popular months for travel were December, January and March.

Last year more than 3,000 Azerbaijani tourists visited Egypt, according to Ahmed Shoukry. He said that the country plans to increase this figure significantly for the next two years.

“Holiday in Egypt justifies its price and quality of service. All created just for tourists. The tourist season in Egypt does not end and the country welcomes guests all year round,” he said.

Meanwhile the flow of the national tourists to Egypt is expected to increase even more, since Sharm el-Sheikh-Baku direct flight will be launched starting June 3.

Air Cairo low fare subsidiary of Egypt Air will open regular Baku-Sharm el-Sheikh-Baku flights to be performed once a week.

Cairo and Baku enjoy relations which date back to centuries ago but since the last century they have developed closer contacts. Egyptians and Azerbaijanis have much in common: traditions, culture, customs, attitudes and religion.

Since Azerbaijan has gained its independence in 1991, the two countries have started building relations in the political, economic, cultural and educational spheres.

Tourism has traditionally played one of the most important places in Egypt's economy, and more than four million Egyptians are working in tourism sector, and almost 12 percent of the country’s GDP are revenue from tourism.

Over the past decade, the flow of tourists in Egypt has tripled from five to 15 million, and the accommodation capacity of resorts increased from 18,000 to 280,000, and another 250, 000 are prepared for commissioning.