Azerbaijan

Azerbaijan’s position in the World of tourism is strengthening

Azerbaijan has been chosen as the chair of the United Nations World Tourism. Organization (UNWTO) for the year 2017. The decision was made at the organization’s 104th Executive Council session held on 31 October in Luxor, Egypt.

Azerbaijan’s Minister of Culture and Tourism Abulfas Garayev, who spoke on his country’s behalf noting the UNWTO’s contributions made into the field of tourism and the fact that 2017 had been declared International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development, vowed to welcome all initiatives brought forward in this regard during Azerbaijan’s chairmanship. Azerbaijan’s appointment as the chair of the Executive Committee of an organization which constitutes a specialized branch within the structure of the UN is a sign of international prestige that our country enjoys in the sphere of tourism.

Recently, as a result of measures taken by the government of Azerbaijan in tourism industry, favourable conditions have emerged for the development of this domain, rendering local tourism more competitive. This is proven by the increasing tourist arrival rate, especially in the number of tourists from Arab countries.

Facilitating visa regulations for citizens of the Gulf states played a decisive role in this increase. It should be noted that according to the 2016 Global Muslim Travel Index (GMTÍ) report, Azerbaijan is on the list of best tourism destinations for Muslim travellers. Azerbaijan remains popular in the post-Soviet realm, including Russia.

Language:

Official state language of the country is Azerbaijani – belongs to Turkish group of languages. Vast majority of the population speaks Russian fluently and English is used all over hotels, restaurants, shopping centers.

Currency:

The national currency is Manat(AZN). Exchange of any currency is possible in banks and exchange offices. Banks working weekdays from 9 AM to 17 PM. 1$ = 1.70 AZN

Asan Visa

Traveling to Azerbaijan has never been so easy. Apply for e-Visa, visit and make your trip unforgettable on the shores of the Caspian sea. Depending on the applicant’s choice, visas can be issued within 3 days (standard visa application form) or 3 hours (emergency visaapplication form).  http://evisa.gov.az/

Security

Azerbaijan is most stable and secure country in the Caucasian region. Azerbaijanis are friendly and hospitalable people, respect to others traditions, customs and religions. Tourists feel themselfs very comfortable here.

Contact numbers in case of emergency:

Ambulance: 103
Fire: 101
Gas Emergency 104
Police: 102
Speaking Clock :106

Note that emergency phone operators will generally speak Azerbaijani, Turkish and Russian but not English.

Photo and video shooting

You can take the usual tourist photo and video (with the exception of some objects), but while taking a photo of strangers on the street or in any public places for the sake of courtesy it is advisable to ask permission.

Alcoholic drinks

All restaurants and bars serve alcohol. In addition, anyone can buy them(except under 18) without any restrictions from market or shops.

Medical services

At state medical centers emergency help is provided free of charge. Ambulance service is available 24 hours by calling (012) 103.There are also many private medical clinics and centers which vast majority of doctors know English language. Some pharmacies are working at night.

Transportation

Azerbaijan has an existing transport infrastructure,which includes air, rail, highway, marine and pipeline transportation.Azerbaijan is a major logistics center, through which is passing the shortest way from Europe to CentralAsia, the Middle and Far East, in particular transport corridor TRACECA and North-South road and rail routes connecting the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, in the same territory.

Internet &International communications

Mobile communication on the GSM and LTE standard operates all over the country. Roaming service provides by all mobile operators. Free Wi-Fi Internet is widely covered, especially in the center of city and hotels, restaurants, business centers. There’re many payphones over the city and coins are sold in the newsstands. International code of Azerbaijan is +994 and Baku (0)12 .

Azerbaijan has introduced Tax Free shopping, a service that allows to ensure full or partial refund of Value Added Tax (VAT) paid on the purchase of goods by foreign citizens (mainly tourists). A widely used international practice enjoyed by foreign travelers, the Tax Free system’s introduction is aimed at attracting foreign tourists’ interest in the country, ensuring the sustainability of the development of tourism and strengthening of competitiveness thereof.

The VAT amount paid on the purchase of goods not designed for production or business purposes in shops displaying Tax Free signage is refunded to foreign citizens in the airport while departing from Azerbaijan. The standard VAT rate in Azerbaijan is 18%. To benefit from the opportunities of Tax Free shopping, one needs to shop at stores displaying Tax Free signage. To be eligible to use this opportunity, the cost (including VAT) of purchased goods per one e-tax invoice must not be less than 300 AZN and must be taken out of the territory of the country by air within 90 days from the purchase date. The buyer may receive the VAT in cash or on their bank card through transfer. The VAT amount minus 20% handling fee for the services provided by the Operator and service charges for banking transactions will be paid to the buyer by the correspondent Bank.

Azerbaijani Wine:

Azerbaijani wine is produced in several regions throughout Azerbaijan. Prior to 20 century communist rule, Azerbaijan had a thriving wine industry that dated back to the second millennium BC. Azerbaijan’s long history of wine production was rediscovered at archaeological digs of settlements in Kultepe, Qarabağlar and Galajig where archaeologists discovered stone fermentation and storage vessels that included residue and grape seeds dating back to the second millennium BC.

The Ancient Greeks were well aware of wine production in the area by at least the 7″ century BC according to Herodotus. Later Strabo would comment in the 1st century BC about an Azerbaijani wine known as Albania. Arabic historians and geographers-most notably Abu’l-Fida, Al-Masudi, Ibn Hawqal and Al-Muqaddasi – described the extensive viticulture around Ganja and Barda that was taking place even after Islamic conquest of the area. Since the fall of Communism and the restoration of Azerbaijani independence, ardent attempts have been made to revive and modernize the Azerbaijani wine industry.

Today vineyards are found in the foothills of Caucasus Mountains as well and the Kur-Araz lowlands near the Kura River. In the 21″ century, Among the grape varieties used to produce Azerbaijani wine include Pinot noir, Rkatsiteli, Pinot blanc, Aligote, Matrassa, Podarok Magaracha,Pervenets Magaracha, Ranni Magaracha, Doina,Viorica and Kishmish Moldavski. Local grape varieties indigenous to Azerbaijan include White Shani, Derbendi, Nail, Bayanshire, Gamashara,Ganja Pink, Bendi, Madrasa, Black Shani, Arna-Grna, Zeynabi, Misgali, Khindogni, Agdam Kechiemdzhei, Tebrizi, and Marandi.

Azerbaijan is one of the main wine producers in the Caspian Sea region. Contemporary wine-making was ambitiously developed during the 1970s by Soviet authorities who preferred to increase the wine production versus development of the grain industry.

Azerbaijani Carpets:

Carpet weaving is one of the oldest and most wide-spread types of folk art in Azerbaijan. Predecessors of Azerbaijani carpets were first mentioned in the works of the filth century BC Greek scholar Xenophon. Arab, Persian historians and later European travellers who visited Azerbaijan in the mediaeval era noted the beauty of our carpets.

carpetsBeginning in the nineteenth century, detailed information on Azerbaijani carpets has featured in books dedicated to Oriental arts, published in European countries. In terms of ornament and compositional characteristics, the Azerbaijani art of carpet-weaving is divided into seven schools: Guba, Baku (Absheron), Shirvan, Ganja, Gazakh, Karabakh and Tabriz.

Nowadays the rare examples of ancient Azerbaijani carpets are exhibited famous museums and galleries around the world – New York’s Metropolitan Museum, Boston Museum of Fine Arts, Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, the Hermitage (St. Petersburg), the Louvre (Paris), the Vatican and others. This was why in 2010, the Azerbaijani carpet was included by UNESCO on the representative list of  Intangible Cultural Heritage.

Economy of Azerbaijan

How important are oil and gas for the Azerbaijani economy?The short answer to this question is: very important.The State Oil Fund of Azerbaijan was created in December 1999 “to ensure intergenerational equality of benefit with regard to the country’s oil wealth, whilst improving the economic well-being of the population today and safeguarding economic security for future generations” (State Oil Fund of Azerbaijan Republic, 2009).

The fund’s activities include preservation of macroeconomic stability, safeguarding fiscal-tax discipline, decreasing dependence on oil revenues and stimulating development of the non-oil sector. Its assets reached €14.9 billion ($21.7 billion) by October 2010 (State Oil Fund of Azerbaijan Republic, 2010). Azerbaijan’s rapid economic development and significant improvement across several indicators allowed the country to be placed on the list of countries with high human development. For example, Azerbaijan’s ranking in the Human Development Index (HDI) has significantly improved.

In 2010 it reached the highest score at 0.713 and the country was ranked 67th among 169 countries. Thus, for the first time in its history Azerbaijan has left the ranks of countries with “medium human development” and joined the “high human development” cohort. Since 1995, Azerbaijan’s life expectancy (one of the indicators of HDI) has increased by 5 years, the expected years of schooling increased by 3 years, and Gross National Income per capita jumped by 338% (HDI, 2010).

Main Macroeconomic Trends Azerbaijan has been able to attract foreign direct investments and export its natural resources due to exploration of new oil fields and PSA agreements with foreign oil companies. For the thirteen year period from 1997 to 2009, Azerbaijan’s GDP grew by 14% per year on average (The State Statistical Committee of the Republic of Azerbaijan, 2009a).

However, much of the growth was generated by industrial output—mostly in the oil and gas industry that grew by 18.8% on average between 2003 and 2009 (EBRD, 2009; World Bank, 2009a). As a result of the oil boom and inflows of oil revenues, the GDP per capita (PPP) also grew to €3,411 ($4,874) in 2009.1 High oil revenues allowed Azerbaijan’s GDP per capita to reach 54.3% of the 10 EU countries’ average put together (Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Czech Republic, Poland, Hungary, Slovenia, Slovakia, Romania and Bulgaria).