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President Ilham Aiyev: "Last year foreign tourists spent 1.260 billion manats in Azerbaijan through bank cards alone"

17 January 2020 02:01 (UTC +04:00)

"I want to bring one more issue to your attention. It consists in the fact that all the work done, including our positions in the international arena, the establishment of friendly relations with many countries, the stability and tranquility prevailing in our country – all this has given a powerful impetus to the development of tourism," President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev said during his opening speech at the meeting on the results of 2019, APA reports.

"I have repeatedly said that the development of tourism is not limited only to historical monuments or some issues that attract attention and interest. In today's world, there is no region where there are no problems – in fact, very serious ones. As I have already noted, wars, confrontations, coups, public protests, police violence, violation of human rights – of course, the influx of tourists in countries experiencing all this is in decline," said President İlham Aliyev.

The Head of State said the stability in Azerbaijan, the strengthening of our international positions and the international events held in our country serve the development of tourism. "Last year, the flow of tourists reached a record high – 3,170,000 foreigners visited our country. According to the information provided to me, foreign tourists spent 1.260 billion manats in Azerbaijan through bank cards alone. In general, we must take into account the fact that tourists come mainly from neighboring countries and cash payments prevail there, just as they do here. Calculations show that foreign tourists spent as much as 4.3 billion manats in Azerbaijan. I speak in manats, but this is actually currency. This currency is also a kind of exports. This plays a very important role in our macroeconomic stability. Of course, we earn the main currency from the sale of oil and gas although growth of non-oil exports by 14 percent provides for an influx of currency from this sector as well. Tourism development will continue to be in the spotlight."