What young people know about Azerbaijan

By Nikita Vlasov exclusively for Vestnik Kavkaza

 

Azerbaijan. What associations do young Russians have about this country? The Caspian Sea, the Karabakh conflict and super-expensive Baku, according to the popular show Orel I Reshka (Heads and Tails). The Azerbaijani diaspora representing its state and people in Russia. You’ve got to agree, it is not a very continuous and impressive set.

We can state that the new generation of Russians born after the fall of the Soviet Union knows very little about the country that was a USSR republic and remains an allied state today. Russia has a friendly dialogue with it in economics, culture, education and security.

Where does the information deficit come from? Besides the economic and political interests represented in oil and gas and regional security issues, our countries cooperate in absolutely different sectors. Forums, video conferences, expert meetings are regular. Yet, besides professional communications formed mainly between the older and middle generations of Baku and Moscow inhabitants, modern youth knows little about Azerbaijan, especially its culture and history. This obvious fall starts manifesting itself among people aged over 25.

The current generation of young Russians love to travel. We have access to what our parents did not until a certain moment. The opportunity to know the world, visit different places of the Eurasian continent. It is no secret that the list of the most commonly visited places includes Spain, Turkey, Italy. Such exotic places as Vietnam and China have been added. It should be noted that post-Soviet states are not included in the list. They have an essential factor of attractiveness for young people from Russia: the countries speak Russian, most of them remember our common history. Azerbaijan is certainly one such country. It has many unique historical monuments of different ages.

I outline that if we check internet search engines, then we can see that people who have never visited Azerbaijan can find out about the enormous tourism potential of the country: splendid hotels, the Caspian coast, memorials of the past, such as the Maiden’s Tower, the huge Disneyland in Qabala. Not to mention Azerbaijani cuisine. I would like to note that Moscow restaurants can hardly give a picture of what quality of food even the smallest Baku cafes may offer, every cook there honours every guest or client as the best friend who decided to pay a visit.

So what is the problem? Why do Moscow students refrain from visiting neighbouring Azerbaijan and prefer to visit by far not the best Turkish resorts or crowded Italy. In reality, the question is not as simple as it may seem. In order for a client to buy products or services, one needs to offer a good package. This is the package Azerbaijan lacks, despite being attractive for tourists. I do not mean ads for luxurious hotels. People preferring a luxury vacation can choose more exotic places. That is not the benchmark.

You must agree that Baku prices are hardly affordable for second-third-year students. Is there an alternative in that case? For example, ecological or historical tourism in Azerbaijan. Students of sub-departments of archeology and art history of the History Faculty of the MSU have an opportunity to visit Italy for practice at very reasonable prices, combining studies and vacation. Does Azerbaijan have any of that? To be honest, I have no such information.

Maybe owners of private hotels are interested in rich clients. But positioning of the country needs fixing its historical image, a picture of its socio-cultural appearance. This goal can only be achieved with mass tourism, mainly young people. In this aspect, even the Eurovision project successfully launched in Baku would hardly let people visiting Azerbaijan for the first time envision the real image about the country and its people. Azerbaijan is not just Baku, it is also Qabala, Ismaily, Gusary, the Kazakh District, Schekians and many other unique traits of the country and people that are hard to see from the windows of classy cars.

Introduction of guests to history via the development of historical and cultural tourism may not provide such high income to tourism business. But that is just the case when money is not the measure. Restoration of old relations are a more topical issue for the new Azerbaijani and Russian generations, especially considering the absence of almost any knowledge of the younger generation about such a close neighbour of ours.

Restoration of old ties is the most topical problem for new generations of Azerbaijanis and RussiansBy Nikita Vlasov exclusively for Vestnik KavkazaAzerbaijan. What associations do young Russians have about this country? The Caspian Sea, the Karabakh conflict and super-expensive Baku, according to the popular show Orel I Reshka (Heads and Tails). The Azerbaijani diaspora representing its state and people in Russia. You’ve got to agree, it is not a very continuous and impressive set.We can state that the new generation of Russians born after the fall of the Soviet Union knows very little about the country that was a USSR republic and remains an allied state today. Russia has a friendly dialogue with it in economics, culture, education and security.Where does the information deficit come from? Besides the economic and political interests represented in oil and gas and regional security issues, our countries cooperate in absolutely different sectors. Forums, video conferences, expert meetings are regular. Yet, besides professional communications formed mainly between the older and middle generations of Baku and Moscow inhabitants, modern youth knows little about Azerbaijan, especially its culture and history. This obvious fall starts manifesting itself among people aged over 25.The current generation of young Russians love to travel. We have access to what our parents did not until a certain moment. The opportunity to know the world, visit different places of the Eurasian continent. It is no secret that the list of the most commonly visited places includes Spain, Turkey, Italy. Such exotic places as Vietnam and China have been added. It should be noted that post-Soviet states are not included in the list. They have an essential factor of attractiveness for young people from Russia: the countries speak Russian, most of them remember our common history. Azerbaijan is certainly one such country. It has many unique historical monuments of different ages.I outline that if we check internet search engines, then we can see that people who have never visited Azerbaijan can find out about the enormous tourism potential of the country: splendid hotels, the Caspian coast, memorials of the past, such as the Maiden’s Tower, the huge Disneyland in Qabala. Not to mention Azerbaijani cuisine. I would like to note that Moscow restaurants can hardly give a picture of what quality of food even the smallest Baku cafes may offer, every cook there honours every guest or client as the best friend who decided to pay a visit.So what is the problem? Why do Moscow students refrain from visiting neighbouring Azerbaijan and prefer to visit by far not the best Turkish resorts or crowded Italy. In reality, the question is not as simple as it may seem. In order for a client to buy products or services, one needs to offer a good package. This is the package Azerbaijan lacks, despite being attractive for tourists. I do not mean ads for luxurious hotels. People preferring a luxury vacation can choose more exotic places. That is not the benchmark.You must agree that Baku prices are hardly affordable for second-third-year students. Is there an alternative in that case? For example, ecological or historical tourism in Azerbaijan. Students of sub-departments of archeology and art history of the History Faculty of the MSU have an opportunity to visit Italy for practice at very reasonable prices, combining studies and vacation. Does Azerbaijan have any of that?To be honest, I have no such information.Maybe owners of private hotels are interested in rich clients. But positioning of the country needs fixing its historical image, a picture of its socio-cultural appearance. This goal can only be achieved with mass tourism, mainly young people. In this aspect, even the Eurovision project successfully launched in Baku would hardly let people visiting Azerbaijan for the first time envision the real image about the country and its people. Azerbaijan is not just Baku, it is also Qabala, Ismaily, Gusary, the Kazakh District, Schekians and many other unique traits of the country and people that are hard to see from the windows of classy cars.Introduction of guests to history via the development of historical and cultural tourism may not provide such high income to tourism business. But that is just the case when money is not the measure. Restoration of old relations are a more topical issue for the new Azerbaijani and Russian generations, especially considering the absence of almost any knowledge of the younger generation about such a close neighbour of ou