ATLANTIS Holidays, the official representatives of Azerbaijan’s Ministry of Tourism and Culture in the GCC region, are offering summer holiday packages to attract GCC visitors to the largest country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia.
The packages will be distributed through the major DMCs across the Arabian Gulf states.
The key tourism industry players in Azerbaijan are all set to work harder to attract a larger number of high-spending travellers, and capitalise on high end net worth segments, particularly from the Middle East in general and GCC states in particular with unique packages including outdoor activities like hunting and fishing.
Increasing the number of tourist arrivals will boost Azerbaijan’s GDP in which tourism accounts for the second largest foreign exchange earner for the country.
Apart from international hotels like Sheraton, Kempinski, Hilton, Hyatt, a number of new hotel chains like Four Seasons, Marriott, Jumeirah and Fairmont have recently started their operations in Azerbaijan. Aydin Ismiyev, head of tourism department at Azerbaijan’s Ministry of Culture and Tourism along with Elkhan Gahramanov, Ambassador of Azerbaijan in UAE together with their various partners participated in the recently concluded Arabian Travel Market (ATM).
Rashid Al Noori, chairman Atlantis Holidays and representative of Ministry of Culture and Tourism of Azerbaijan in the GCC, said: “We got excellent response from the travel trade and general public. Based on the response we have received, we can confidently say that GCC travellers are considering Azerbaijan as their summer destination of choice for 2012. This reflects positively on the efforts and vision set by the ministry”.
Azerbaijan is unique in many ways in terms of its touristic appeal. Nearly half of all the mud volcanoes on Earth are concentrated in Azerbaijan. Often referred as the showcase of Nature’s Beauty, the country is blessed with nine of the existing 11 climatic zones and 4,000 varieties of plants.
Other attractions include the Flame tower, The White City, Shahdag Winter and Summer tourist complex. The world’s tallest tower is also being planned on the artificial islands of Khazar. The 1050-sq-m super scraper will be part of a chain of 41 artificial islands in the Caspian Sea, with construction scheduled to start in late 2013. The first phase of the work of Khazar artificial islands will be over by 2016.