(MENAFN- Trend News Agency) BAKU, Azerbaijan, April 22. The tourism sectorin Azerbaijan's capital, Baku, is developing rapidly, SecretaryGeneral of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation Organization (BSEC)Lazăr Comănescu said during the 1st meeting of higher educationinstitutions specializing in tourism education, Trend reports.

"Tourism in Azerbaijan, especially in Baku, continues to developat a rapid pace. It is impressive how the city is becoming more andmore attractive to visitors," he emphasized.

Comănescu mentioned that tourism is one of the areas ofcooperation in the Black Sea region with the greatestpotential.

"I am convinced that today's conference and the contributions ofits participants will be of particular importance for identifyingnew ways and opportunities for developing cooperation in the fieldof tourism," he added.

Baku hosts the first meeting of the BSEC higher educationinstitutions specializing in tourism education to discusscooperation, perspectives, and challenges in the field of tourismeducation.

The meeting is attended by official representatives of statesand tourism educational institutions from 11 member countries ofthe organization, including Azerbaijan, Türkiye, Russia, Albania,Bulgaria, Georgia, Greece, Moldova, Romania, Serbia, and Ukraine,as well as representatives of the UN World TourismOrganization.

From January through March of this year, 513,413 foreignersvisited Azerbaijan, which is 39 percent higher than the sameindicator of 2023 (369,072), according to the State Tourism Agencyof Azerbaijan.

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