(MENAFN- Trend News Agency)
Details added (first version posted at
10:34)
BAKU, Azerbaijan, June 28. Baku is hosting the
11th conference of tourism ministers of the Organisation of Islamic
Cooperation (OIC) member countries on June 28, Trend reports.
Tourism ministers of the OIC countries, heads of tourism
associations and other officials are taking part in the
conference.
Chairman of the State Tourism Agency of the Republic of
Azerbaijan Fuad Naghiyev noted that this session is the first
meeting of tourism representatives of Islamic countries after the
COVID-19 pandemic and serves as an important platform for
developing interaction between the participating countries.
According to Naghiyev, Azerbaijan's ties with the OIC countries
in the sphere of tourism are developing.
The share of tourists from Islamic countries visiting Azerbaijan
is 55 percent of the total number of tourists, Naghiyev said.
He expressed hope that the increase in the number of direct
flights between OIC countries and the existence of a simplified
visa regime will contribute to a further increase in these
indicators.
Naghiyev noted that the tourism industry in Azerbaijan began to
recover rapidly in the post-pandemic period, and the number of
foreign citizens visiting our country increased by 118 percent in
the first five months of 2022 compared to the same period in
2021.
Naghiyev also said that Azerbaijani historical and religious
monuments and samples of cultural heritage were destroyed on the
country's lands during the period of Armenian occupation.
According to him, the state is currently carrying out
large-scale work to restore liberated Karabakh [in the 2020 Second
Karabakh War] and other liberated territories.
He also invited the participants of the session to visit
Azerbaijan's Shusha, so that they could witness destruction done
there, and reconstruction and restoration work being carried out on
liberated lands.
OIC Secretary General Hussein Brahim Taha thanked Azerbaijan for
organizing the session at a high level, during his speech. He also
noted that the expansion of tourism ties between OIC member
countries contributes to Islamic solidarity.
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