The award ceremony of the 8th National Geographic Traveler Awards 2018 took place in Moscow at Volkhonka Mansion. The open online voting for the best tourist destinations and services took place from June 22nd to October 12th in 25 nominations. In the nomination ‘Sightseeing holiday’ Azerbaijan hit the top three most popular among Russian tourists countries, beating the UK and Portugal.
National Geographic Russia’s chief photographer Andrei Kamenev told Vestnik Kavkaza the following: “At last, we finally reached Azerbaijan. In my youth, 25 years ago, I was in Azerbaijan, but since then a lot has changed. First what impressed me is, of course, Baku. The city has become unreal and looks so beautiful and unusual that it is just a pure delight. I have long dreamed of visiting mud volcanoes, almost since my childhood. Finally, this dream has also come true. The tour guides impressed me much, especially the one who drove us through Old Baku and told the stories about oil kings who lived at the beginning of the century. It was such an engaging tour! It lasted more than six hours, and at the end, I, frankly, could not stand - just sat down on the steps or on the asphalt and listened. But it was impossible to break away.’’
According to the results of the voting, Azerbaijan was also among the top 3 popular destinations for gastronomic tourism among Russians.
