Licensing requirement set to all tourism companies and hotels

5 Oktyabr 2011 15:28 | 878

Hotels and guest-houses in Azerbaijan must meet definite standards.

In late September the Ministry of Culture and Tourism declared that the activity of firms, companies and hotels will be prohibited in Azerbaijan if they have no license.

The statement came from Azerbaijan’s Minister of Culture and Tourism Abulfas Garayev,

"The ministry has appealed to the relevant bodies over this and monitoring is held. We demand that all hotels get licenses by the end of the year", the minister said.

He also noted that hotels and guest-houses in Azerbaijan must meet definite standards, fixed in the State Standardization, Metrology and Patents Agency.

"The state demands from the hotels to get licenses. But it is up to the hotels to decide whether to get the stars. Today there are over 400 hotels in Azerbaijan, 40-45 hotels are built every year and currently 42 hotels are at the construction stage", Garayev said.

The Culture and Tourism Ministry of Azerbaijan clarified the participation of Armenia and separatist Nagorno-Karabakh in the international tourism exhibition in the Italian city of Rimini.

Azerbaijan will not participate in this exhibition, Culture and Tourism Minister Abulfas Garayev said.

"We have an approved schedule of exhibitions and events that we consider priority for Azerbaijan. And Rimini is not a city where we can attract tourists to our country. As for the participation of Nagorno-Karabakh separatists in this exhibition, we see it as another provocation," the minister said.

"I believe our embassy in Italy, the Foreign Ministry and other government agencies will react to it in a due manner," Garayev added.

Armenia will be represented by the National Competition Fund and eight tourism companies at an international exhibition to be held in Italian city of Rimini on 6-8 October.

Representatives of break-away Nagorno-Karabakh are also reported to participate in the exhibition.