Called the "Land of Fire," Azerbaijan, with its 10 million people, is a melting pot of Turkish, Russian, Persian and European cultures and a country full of contrasts. It's a nexus of ancient historical empires and a modern, oil-rich nation framed by futuristic skyscrapers and jaw-dropping architecture set against several UNESCO world heritage sites and timeless villages in the Caucasus Mountains.
According to Chinese agency Xinhua, the COVID-19 pandemic, however, seriously affected the Caucasus country's tourism industry. "2019 was an amazing year. We had 3.2 million arrivals from international guests. After March 2020, tourism basically completely stopped during COVID. Now in 2022, we see a recovery of about 50 percent," Florian Sengstschmid, CEO of the Azerbaijan Tourism Board, said. According to Azerbaijan's State Tourism Agency, tourist arrivals in 2020 dropped 75 percent to 795,000. From January to July this year, Azerbaijan received 832,000 visitors, the agency reported.
Traditionally, tourists from Turkey have accounted for the largest share of incoming travelers, followed by Russians, Iranians, Georgians, and Ukrainians.
"Ninety percent of my clients are from Europe, especially from Britain, Poland and Germany. There are also many travelers from India and Pakistan, and maybe five percent from the Middle East," Zaur Agayarli, a tour guide said.
"The tourism business is finally starting to recover, but it still hasn't reached the same level as before the pandemic," he said at the Gobustan Rock Art Cultural Landscape, which is located 60 km from Baku and famous for its more than 6,000 petroglyphs dating back some 40,000 years.
Before the pandemic, Azerbaijan had relaxed visa requirements. It now offers e-visas and visas upon arrival to travelers from most countries.
"We started our business 20 years ago. But it paused during COVID-19. We launched again after COVID-19, and we have lots of guests from all over the world, the United States, Germany, and Russia. Our rooms have been fully booked for the past three months", Valid Pashazadah, assistant manager of the Sultan Inn Boutique Hotel located in the Old City, said. "Tourists don't only come to Baku. They come here to see Gabala, Quba, Lankaran, and many other sites, such as Gobustan and the mud volcanoes. There are so many interesting places," Pashazadah added. Billed as the "mud volcano capital" of the world, Azerbaijan is home to a stunning collection of about 350 bubbling mud volcanoes, many of which are found in the Gobustan area, a 1.5-hour drive from Baku.
Economic outlook
In July, the International Monetary Fund warned that while the economy has recovered rapidly from the pandemic, inflation and the situation in Ukraine are creating new challenges: "While Azerbaijan benefits from high oil and gas prices, the conflict poses new risks from rising food prices, food security, and spillovers from sanctions, and introduces significant uncertainty to the outlook".
The global lender said that while growth accelerated briskly in 2021 and early 2022 due to high oil prices and strong consumer demand, real gross domestic product increased by 5.6 percent in 2021. The Azerbaijan Tourism Board's Sengstschmid said tourism contributed about 4.5 percent to Azerbaijan's GDP in 2019. "This year, tourism will contribute about 2.5 percent to GDP," Sengstschmid said, "but I'm very optimistic and positive that through 2023 and 2024, we will see a global recovery and that tourism will reach the same level as prior to the pandemic or contribute even more."
