Azerbaijan and Russia intend to expand the network of flights, which are currently carried out in six directions between the two countries, Head of the International Cooperation Department of the Federal Agency for Tourism of Russia Valery Korovin said.
He said that the level of tourism logistics between the two countries was below its real possibilities.
“Currently, there are flights only to six cities of Russia from Baku, despite the fact that there are 14 millionaire cities in Russia, and each of them is a potential base for tourists”, Korovin said.
He added that detailed work would be implemented in this direction with the air carriers of Russia and Azerbaijan.
“Another problem is insufficiency of railway communication and the lack of sea links between our countries”, Korovin noted. “But the problem of the Caspian Sea is generally in the complete absence of vessels for cruise tourism. We know about this problem and work on its solution. The issue of railway and air transport can be solved in the nearest future”.
He said that one more problem was the lack of awareness of both Russian and Azerbaijani citizens about tourism opportunities of the neighboring country.
“There is a lack of information coverage of the media space in each of our countries”, Korovin said. “Russia’s information field is not filled with tourist proposals of Azerbaijan to the desired degree and vice versa. We are very glad that Azerbaijan has opened an information center in Russia, and we hope it will bring positive results”.
Deputy Head of Tourism Department of Azerbaijan’s Culture and Tourism Ministry Rauf Pashayev said that the ministry planned to hold a campaign for the promotion of winter tourism in Azerbaijan on Russian television before late 2016.
Pashayev noted that the ministry regularly organized advertising on Russian television.
“We broadcast a number of ads on Russian television in 2013, and we plan to promote winter tourism in Azerbaijan this year”, he said.
He noted that currently more than 32% of foreign citizens entering Azerbaijan were citizens of Russia. (Trend/Business World Magazine)