Summer Tourism Season Officially Starts in

Summer Tourism Season Officially Starts in Shahdag

18:03 18 June 2024 Read: 1062

The State Tourism Agency and Shahdag Mountain Resort put together a joint tour for mass media representatives to Shahdag on 15 June to mark the opening of the summer season in the country.

The goal of the media tour was to communicate the steps taken by the state to develop and promote summer tourism in Azerbaijan, tourism destinations and products, services and entertainment rendered to tourists, the reconstruction and infrastructure projectsat Shahdag Mountain Resort , new services launched for visitors, as well as the goals and future plans of the resort.

The journalists were given a presentation on how the country and the resort have prepared for the summer season, the projects they have accomplished so far, as well as the existing and new tourism products offered to tourists.

Kanan Guluzada , advisor to the chairman of the State Tourism Agency, noted that we have seen a 35 per cent increase in the number of foreign citizens visiting the country from January to May compared to the same period last year, currently amounting to 965,555 people . Considering the large-scale events Azerbaijan is preparing to host this year, Guluzada continued that they are prognosticating the number of foreign visitors to approach the figures of 2019, thus ending 2024 as a year with restored tourism flow.

As President Ilham Aliyev declared 2024 the Green World Solidarity year in Azerbaijan, Guluzada added that they are paying special attention to develop eco and agrotourism in the country, promoting and offering corresponding products to encourage this direction among domestic and foreign tourists.

Javanshir Bayramov , Deputy CEO at Azerbaijan Tourism Board, says the priorities for the development strategy of our tourism industry are to enhance relations with existing tourism markets, facilitate access to other markets, and boost Azerbaijan’s appeal as both winter and summer tourism destination.

Foreign tourists are offered products such as hiking, glamping, paragliding, windsurfing, kitesurfing, diving, rafting, and camping in summer. Bayramov added that they have been quite active in marketing and promoting to adapt these tourism products to existing and new markets.

Rustam Najafov , director at Shahdag Mountain Resort, talked of the projects on reconstructing and modernizing infrastructure and building new entertainment facilities at the resort. Some of these projects will be carried out in stages by the end of this year. Visitors will soon be able to enjoy a new 2-line 1250-metre-long zip-line, cross-country motorcycle tours, and motor racing tracks, tubing and go-cart facilities for children of different age groups.

The director of the resort also added that phase 5 construction is already underway. The first stage will be completed in early 2025, which will include a new ski stadium, a slope, a gondola-type cable car station and a new parking area corresponding to FIS standards.

Journalists then got to try the tourist services, attractions and various summer entertainment facilities offered to guests at the resort.