ATB: Tourism infrastructure in Nakhchivan - good model for other destinations

"Nakhchivan has broad tourism potential, as well as infrastructure for hiking, camping, nature, cultural tourism, ethnographic tourism," Florian Sengstschmid, CEO of the Azerbaijan Tourism Board (ATB), said during a mediation tour to Nakhchivan organized by the State Tourism Agency (STA) and the Tourism Department of Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic.

Sengstschmid noted that the tourism infrastructure in Nakhchivan is a good model for other destinations: "Nakhchivan tourism is their harmonious mixture of general tourism services in Azerbaijan. The main element of Nakhchivan in tourism is nature. People see with their own eyes the formation of mountains, rivers, rocks and how these geomorphological processes take place. All these geographical factors were integrated as a tourism service here, and I think this is a good model for other destinations."

He also spoke about the prospects of the Agbulag Rural Tourism and Recreation Zone in Nakhchivan:

"We think that the Agbulag recreation center can offer mountain-related tourism services not only in winter but also in summer. We are currently developing programs to improve non-skiing tourism at the Shahdag summer and winter tourism complex. I think that people, for example, can travel certain routes on foot and by bicycle in search of medicinal plants growing in the mountains. Finally, we can compile the tourism practices of the resorts that offer tourism in Azerbaijan as a triple set between Tufandag, Shahdag, and Agbulag. The Aghbulag complex functioned for only one month during the last winter season and received tens of thousands of visitors a month. This figure makes me optimistic that they will be able to work the whole winter season this year and will have both the motivation and some reserve to provide new tourism services for the summer season."

"We must first introduce Nakhchivan to local visitors as a tourist destination. It is planned to organize visits of tour operators and travel agencies to Nakhchivan in the next stage. Chairman of the State Tourism Agency Fuad Nagiyev and Director of the Tourism Department of Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic Akbar Novruzov also discussed this issue. In this case, we will motivate representatives of tour operators and travel agencies to make Nakhchivan a permanent part of their tour programs. Consequently, they can talk about it and sell their tour packages at international exhibitions attended by the State Tourism Agency and the Azerbaijan Tourism Board. Later, foreign tourists can explore Nakhchivan more. Our next visit to Nakhchivan will be a good reason for the media to come here again and help tour operators sell and promote a tourism experience that they have already tested," he added.