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After the unprecedented fall in tourism in 2020 and 2021, the number of arrivals in Azerbaijan from the GCC region has been increasing fast enough to return to pre-pandemic levels by as early as the end of 2022, according to Florian Sengstschmid, CEO, Azerbaijan Tourism Board.
“In 2019, 3.2 million tourists from around the world visited Azerbaijan, [but] the number dropped to 1.1 million in 2021,” Sengstschmid told Zawya. “However, post-pandemic, the GCC is the fastest-recovering region among our core markets. For example, tourists from Saudi Arabia in the first quarter of the year have already exceeded the total number of arrivals in 2019.”
The Azerbaijan Tourism Board (ATB) is the national promotions body established under the State Tourism Agency.
Sengstschmid said that Azerbaijan received more than 32,000 travellers from the GCC last year and more than 22,000 arrivals in the first quarter of 2022 alone. The number of tourists from Saudi Arabia has increased by 20 percent compared to the pre-pandemic figures.
“Overall, the GCC is the largest market for us after Russia and Turkey and, therefore, it is very significant for us. Within the GCC, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Kuwait are the biggest markets. We expect the tourist flow to significantly improve during the post-pandemic period, especially as Azerbaijan has now relaxed many travel restrictions. For instance, travellers don’t need to go for a PCR test before visiting Azerbaijan,” he said.
Sengstschmid also added that the ATB is working with all major airlines in the GCC region, OTAs, and tour operators to raise awareness about the destination and about Azerbaijan’s new experiences, especially for the upcoming summer season.
“For the region, we are expanding our marketing activities. After the ATM, we will head to Saudi Arabia for the Riyadh Travel Fair, and later we will be in Qatar, Doha. With the FIFA World Cup happening in Qatar, we are looking forward to engaging more with Qatari nationals and residents as well as international visitors to the country,” he explained.
He also noted that the ATB is actively working with its partners in the region and has a specialist team dedicated to the GCC region for engagement with its customers and partners on an ongoing basis.
“We are well on course to get back to 2019 figures in terms of GCC tourist arrivals by as early as the end of this year,” he added.
(Reporting by Sunil Kumar; editing by Seban Scaria)
