Azerbaijan, Baku, Feb. 23 / Trend U. Ismaylova /
Azerbaijani tourism companies will offer Azerbaijani tourists alternative routes instead of the traditional tours to Egypt on the eve of Novruz, the head of the Azerbaijani Association of Tourism Nahid Bagirov said.
"Travel companies offer Azerbaijani tourists the tours to Dubai, Turkey, Thailand, as well as to Europe," Bagirov said.
He said that the tours to European countries are in great demand among Azerbaijani tourists now.
Earlier, the tours to Egypt were popular among Azerbaijani tourists on the eve of Novruz, but due to the political crisis in this country, tourists from different countries were evacuated from Egypt. At that time, there were no tourists from Azerbaijan in Egypt that period.
The Azerbaijani Travel Agencies Association was created with the assistance of the Ministry of Tourism and Culture in January 2009.
The association protects the interests of travel agencies, develops bills, recommendations and regulations, assists in establishing national travel companies. It develops plans to conduct trainings and seminars for market participants, creates conditions for advertising of Azerbaijani tourism at annual international exhibitions; develops domestic tourism and presents tourism products at the world market.
The association also tries to develop and introduce congressional tourism, help to train specialists in the management and services etc.
At present, roughly 207 licensed tour companies operate in Azerbaijan.