Azerbaijan records 2.4 million visitors in 2024 as tourism surges by over 27%

Azerbaijan has seen a significant increase in tourism, with a total of 2.4 million visitors recorded from January to November 2024, marking a 27.4% rise compared to the same period last year.

According to the State Statistics Committee, the figure, however, remains 17.5% lower than pre-pandemic levels, Caliber.Az reports.

The largest group of tourists to Azerbaijan were from Russia, accounting for 28.2% of all visitors. Other major contributors include Türkiye (16.1%), India (8.9%), Iran (8%), and Georgia (4.1%). Additionally, 3.9% of visitors came from Saudi Arabia, 3.3% from Kazakhstan, and 3% from Pakistan.

A smaller percentage came from China (1.8%), Uzbekistan (1.7%), UAE (1.6%), Ukraine (1.4%), Turkmenistan and Kuwait (1.2% each), and Israel (1.1%). The remaining 11.5% of visitors were from various other countries. In total, citizens from 195 countries visited Azerbaijan during the reporting period.

Demographically, 67% of the tourists were men, while 33% were women.

Notably, Azerbaijan saw a significant surge in arrivals from countries such as India (up 2.2 times), Spain (up 2 times), South Korea (up 2 times), China (up 1.9 times), and the Philippines (up 1.6 times). Other countries also saw notable increases, including Kyrgyzstan (up 1.5 times), Kazakhstan (up 49.8%), Pakistan (up 48.5%), and Oman (up 45%).

The number of visitors from the Persian Gulf countries increased by 25.3% to 391,900, while arrivals from the EU grew by 37.3% to 106,000. Tourists from CIS countries rose by 19.4%, reaching 905,800.

Regarding transportation, 75.9% of visitors travelled to Azerbaijan by air, 22.9% by rail and road, and 1.2% by sea.

In parallel, the number of Azerbaijani citizens travelling abroad also saw growth, increasing by 16.9% to 1.99 million in the first 11 months of 2024. The top destinations for Azerbaijani travellers were Türkiye (41.4% of the total), Russia (20.6%), Georgia (8.7%), and Iran (8.6%). Azerbaijani travellers favoured air transport (69.5%), followed by rail and road (28.4%) and sea transport (2.1%).

In 2023, Azerbaijan saw 2.85 million foreign visitors, a 30.2% increase compared to 2022. The number of Azerbaijani citizens travelling abroad that year reached 1.87 million, reflecting a growth of 25.5%.

By Tamilla Hasanova