Envoy: Russia targets 1 million tourists to Azerbaijan

Russia is seeking to raise the number of its citizens travelling to Azerbaijan to as many as one million, according to Russia’s ambassador to Azerbaijan.

Speaking at the “Investments in the Caspian Region” business panel, Mikhail Yevdokimov said Moscow was working to strengthen cooperation across multiple sectors, with tourism identified as a key area of growth, Caliber.Az reports via local media.

He noted that Russian tourist flows to Azerbaijan had eased recently, citing regional tensions involving neighbouring Iran, but expressed confidence that demand would recover in the coming period.

“The tourist flow has somewhat declined due to the situation around neighbouring Iran, but we expect it to recover,” Yevdokimov said.

“We hope that next year or the year after we will be able to reach the figure of one million Russian tourists in Azerbaijan.”

He added that Russian authorities were taking “all necessary efforts” to ensure a steady increase in outbound tourism.

By Aghakazim Guliyev