AITF is an absolute leader amongst events of tourism industry in Azerbaijan and the entire Caucasus region. Being the central event of its kind in tourism sector of the country and beyond, AITF becomes the main ground to establish and maintain contacts between foreign and Azerbaijani professionals.

Azerbaijan……. A reliable partner

According to a report by the World Bank and International Finance Corporation, Azerbaijan is recognized as a world leader in implementing reforms to business regulation.

It is well known that today the world is experiencing an economic crisis and industrial output is falling. Azerbaijan gets an upper rank in the world for the rate of the economic development in over the past five years (2004-2008). During this period of time the economy has grown 2.6 times, and budget expenditure more than 10 times. According to a UN report - The Worlds Economic Situation and Prospects 2009, Azerbaijan will remain the country with most rapidly developing economy in CIS.

FACTS AND FIGURES OF AITF

	Launched:	2002
	Frequency:	Annual
	Destinations:	21
	Participants in 2008:	70
	Participants in 2009:	112
	Growth in comparison with 2008:	39%
	Total Visitors:	7640
	Trade Visitors:	4568
AITF 2010
	Expected number of participants in 2010:	180
	Exhibition area in 2010:	2750 sq.m

• 65.3% of exhibitors stated that they had been successful in establishing business contacts
• 73% stated that their visitors’ quality met their expectations
• 85,8% stated the importance of participation at the exhibition for their business development in Caucasus Region
• 73.9% of exhibitors confirmed they come back next year

INDUSTRY

Tourism in Azerbaijan is a fast developing industry amended with new interesting trends and destinations to be presented at AITF.

Over 300 tourism agencies functioning in Azerbaijan and having partners in over 120 countries of the world

Within last several years 320 hotels of deferent categories for 30.706 rooms have been constructed and those existing were upgraded. 35 new hotels are under construction now. Four new international airports started functioning in 2009.

Inbound tourism: Nevertheless the overall slowdown, Azerbaijan is experiencing a booming flow of tourists coming to the country. According to the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of Azerbaijan in 2009 the number of tourists coming to Azerbaijan increases the figures of the last year by 40-45% and will grow up to 2.3mln.

Outbound tourism: The number of Azerbaijani tourists traveling outside also braking records of the previous years. Thus in 2008 number of outgoing tourists amounted to 2.45m. This figure grew by 16 percent in 2009. Among top ten destinations were Turkey, Italy, Spain, UAE, Ukraine, Russia, Greece, Malaysia, Thailand, Switzerland.

TESTIMONIALS

Tourism industry has been defined by the government of Azerbaijan as one of the priority directions of the non-oil sector of the economy. Such events as AITF are significant for developing of tourism industry of Azerbaijan, as they increase the interest of foreign investors and tourism professionals.

Mr Abulfaz Garayev
Minister of Culture and Tourism of Azerbaijan
AITF 2009

An increase in the number of Azerbaijani tourists visiting Czech resorts amounted to approximately 30% over the past year. We believe that new relations established at this exhibition will promote a further increase in flow of tourists to our country.

Helena Svobodova
Director of Czech Tourism Authority office in Moscow
AITF 2008-2009

It has been a great honour for us to represent MAURITIUS ISLAND as a new destination attending the Travel & Tourism International Fair in Azerbaijan.
We were fascinated by the people & the city itself
For sure we are going to participate in the next AITF 2010.

Joelle Jean & Raj Jugroo
MAUTURCO travel agency
AITF 2009

I liked the exhibition very much. This event becomes a real forum for tourism industry. Everything is very well demonstrated which allows guests to do their work productively. AITF has its national color and zest, the credit for that should go to the organizers who have managed to hold such a large scaled event.

Yelena Zhirnova, trade-visitor
Marketing specialist of Al-Jawad Tours, UAE
AITF 2008