(MENAFN- AzerNews) By Laman Ismayilova
Developments and challenges in the hotel industry are on the
agenda of the 5th General Assembly of the Azerbaijan Hotel
Association (AHA) in Baku, Azernews reports.
The assembly highlights the annual reports of the Azerbaijan
Hotel Association and the star rating process based on the National
Star Classification.
Speaking at the assembly, Chairman of the State Tourism Agency
Fuad Nagiyev stressed the development of the hotel industry in the
country.
He added that 150 hotels have applied to the National Star
Classification, which has been successfully implemented for two
years.
At the same time, the classification of about 100 hotels has
been completed. Some 44 hotels have been awarded 3,4, and 5
stars.
Noting that only a small part of the applications made to obtain
the star category meet the set requirements, the head of the agency
said that there are a large number of hotels that have to be
re-audited or have to re-apply for the classification due to
numerous inconsistencies.
Fuad Nagiyev noted that the increase in the number of hotels
with a star certificate will stimulate healthy competition, which
will ultimately stimulate the development of the hotel industry and
contribute to a more complete implementation of the law of supply
and demand.
Chief Executive Officer of Azerbaijan Tourism Board (ATB)
Florian Sengstschmid said that although the process of awarding the
star category was delayed due to the pandemic, it is being
dynamically implemented again, especially with the new law coming
into force. Advisory support to hotels is provided by the State
Tourism Board and Azerbaijan Hotel Association.
'Global tourism is recovering and we must be ready for this
return in a stronger form. We predicted a resurgence in tourism as
people want to get out of their houses and explore new places. Of
course, this creates a number of difficulties in airports and
hotels. We are planning to re-enter the market in 2023 and focus on
tourists from the South, Middle East, and Central Asia. It is
somewhat difficult to attract Asian tourists considering the
general situation. Nevertheless, Azerbaijan's rich cuisine and
unique nature can help us to achieve our goal in this work. Our
tourism exchange with Saudi Arabia has been successfully carried
out in the past years, now we have chosen to work with other
regions of the world,' he said.
Within the framework of the assembly, an awarding ceremony was
held for hotels and hospitality industry representatives that were
highly rated based on guest reviews this year, as well as the
results of the voting for the election of AHA Board members and the
chairman were announced.
Eldar Alimuradov was elected as the new chairman of the Board of
Directors.
Later, the assembly continued its work with panel sessions.
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Tags: azerbaijan tourism hotels travel florian sengstschmid azerbaijan hotel association fuad nagiyev state tourism agency state tourism board