Azerbaijan, with its century-old history and beautiful nature, is among the most desired destination for the foreign tourists.

Today tourism is developing with high speed in Azerbaijan, with a contribution of 4.5 percent to the national GDP and the number of tourists heading to Azerbaijan is growing from year to year.

The popular travel service OneTwoTrip has revealed the most popular tourist destinations among the people of Kazan (the capital and largest city of the Republic of Tatarstan, Russia) for the New Year holidays.

The rankings are based on the analysis of the purchase of tickets for the period starting from December 27 to January 11.

Baku and Paris are the most well-liked cities for New Year holidays for the country’s population, Tatar-Inform reported on November 18.

On average, one person can fly to the capital of Azerbaijan and back for 12,900 rubles ($218) and to Paris for 16,300 rubles ($275). In third place in demand is Geneva with an average cost of travel of 15,400 rubles ($260). Prague ($338) and Milan ($232) in the top five most relevant destinations for the New Year celebration

A total of 1.51 million overseas tourists visited Azerbaijan, also known as the Land of Fire, in the seven months of 2017. Arab tourists account for the largest part of foreign tourists visiting Azerbaijan, followed by Russian neighbors.

According to the results of January-October 2017, about 730,000 Russian tourists visited Azerbaijan. This is reported by the Association of Tour Operators of Russia, transfers tonkosti.ru.

The greatest increase in tourist traffic, besides Russians, was demonstrated by tourists from Iran and the United Arab Emirates. In addition, Azerbaijan is actively visited by citizens of Georgia, Turkey and Ukraine.

On the eve of the New Year holidays the country is expected to welcome a great number of tourists.

Azerbaijan is celebrating the New Year with colorful performances, concerts, contests, and parties that last through the night. The capital of the city is decorated by the bright Christmas trees of unimaginable sizes every year bringing a sense of delight not only to young children, but also to adults.

One of the most popular places attracting attention of both foreign and local tourists is the Shahdag being Azerbaijan’s first ski resort and it differs from similar facilities in the world for its uniqueness and diversity.

Azerbaijan has also another ski complex located in Gabala region – Tufandag, which provides visitors with skiing slopes and cable roads with a total length of 5.8 km.

Another bunch of tourists headed to Guba to see the natural beauty of this region covered with deep snow. The number of tourists in this destination during holidays has increased by 50-60 percent.

Additionally, travelers can stay in the capital city and explore the famed medieval Old City, hailed as a “must-visit”, which houses the UNESCO-listed Shirvanshah’s Palace, and Maiden Tower. Admire the city’s contemporary buildings such as the Heydar Aliyev Center, designed by Zaha Hadid, and the Flame Towers – a trio of skyscrapers covered with LEDs and displaying the mesmerizing movement of a flame.

Source: azernews.az