How is the tourism sector of Azerbaijan preparing for the winter season?

Every year, shortly before the arrival of the winter season, certain innovations in the tourism sector begin. Hotels start new campaigns, tourism enterprises sell tour packages at new prices.

Samir Dübandi, Chairman of the Board of the Azerbaijan Hotels and Restaurants Association and Executive Director of the Azerbaijan Ecotourism Association, informed "Report" about the current situation in the tourism sector, innovations and preparations for the winter season.

Ski tourism should be more accessible

According to him, skiing opportunities are usually offered in mountain winter resorts from December 15:

"There are 2 mountain-ski tourism complexes in the country. One of them is "Shahdag" in the territory of Gusar region, and the other is "Tufandag" mountain-ski tourism complex in the territory of Gabala region. The creation of such resorts serves to reduce the dependence of the tourism industry on the season.

S. Dübandi believes that the winter season is generally considered a low season for the world tourism industry:

"The development of winter tourism types creates additional opportunities for domestic and foreign tourists in the winter season. Winter tourism activities are not limited to skiing. Here we can list the widespread forest ski trips, sleigh rides, winter berry picking, seasonal cuisine samples and others. Many attractions are offered in the areas of winter ski resorts, from quad biking to five-star hotels. The services of these centers are not accessible to the middle class of the population, as only ski tourism is generally considered a rather expensive type of tourism. I think that in the areas of these centers and in the nearby areas, enterprises should be formed that offer alternative means of accommodation, more accessible equipment, nutrition and other services.

 

Təklifin az olması bahalaşma yaradır

O bildirib ki, turizm müəssisələri Yeni il üçün təkliflər baxımından hələ aktiv deyillər:

“Yeni il bayramı ərəfəsində və bayram günləri regional hotellərin satışları artır, qiymətlər də bir qədər yüksəlir. Bu da təbiidir. Çünki bazarda tələb artır, təkliflər isə məhdud olduğu üçün müəssisələr qiymətləri yüksəldir”.

Assosiasiya rəhbəri bildirib ki, “Şahdağ” kompleksinin qəbul etdiyi xarici qonaqların sayı ildən-ilə artmaqdadır:

“Pandemiyadan əvvəlki dövrdə bayram günləri kompleks 20 min insanı qəbul edirdi”.

O hesab edir ki, Azərbaycanda qış turizm fəaliyyətləri o qədər də geniş yayılmayıb: "Many hotels and tourist recreation centers offer limited offers during the winter holidays. These are overnight services, show program, food packages. The offers of animations and tourism activities are in the minority. Despite this, there are ample opportunities for recreation and other tourism activities in Azerbaijan in all seasons. A number of interesting, unique natural and anthropogenic tourism resources are spread in the country. In recent years, special attention has been paid to the protection of cultural heritage in the country. Extensive and planned works are being carried out in the direction of restoration and protection of cultural heritage samples. This encourages the development of tourism activities and creates conditions for the development of different tourism destinations. Here, it is appropriate to mention archaeological, cultural, culinary, ethno and other types of tourism."

Most of the luxury hotels are full

According to S. Dubendi, high occupancy is observed in the 5-star segment among regional hotels during the upcoming holidays:

"Many luxury hotels have already stopped their sales. On ordinary days, the prices of 5-star regional hotels vary between 130-250 AZN. In the segment of other accommodation facilities, we see various offers - cottages, country houses, guest houses and others. Compared to last year, the prices of the services offered by these enterprises have increased by about 25%.