President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev and his spouse Mehriban Aliyeva have today visited the 13th Azerbaijan International Travel and Tourism Fair AITF-2014 and the 8th Caucasus International Hospitality Fair HOREX Caucasus 2014 at the Baku Exhibition Center.

Minister of Culture and Tourism Abulfaz Garayev informed the Head of State and the First Lady that the fair brings together 351 companies from 38 countries from around the world. More than 60 % of participants are foreign, while nearly 40 % are local companies. Some 24 national and regional groups from Argentina, Bulgaria, Hungary, Greece, Georgia, the Dominican Republic, Egypt, Croatia, India, Italy, China and other countries attend the exhibition. The event is also attended by international experts in tourism industry from Lithuania, Croatia, Russia and Montenegro.

AITF 2014 includes tour operators and travel agents, luxury tourism, hotels, adventure holidays, luxury holidays and business travel, as well as sporting, ecological and educational tourism offers.

The exhibition successfully combines the announcement of exciting destinations and presentations of market innovations with a wide range of tourist services from national groups; international offices; land, air and sea carriers; representatives of the hotel industry from different countries; and travel and trade associations. Great interest has been shown in the Real Estate Abroad and Medical Tourism sectors. These new directions are represented by private and public clinics and diagnostic centres in Turkey, Germany, Switzerland, Israel, Russia, Lithuania, Greece and Cyprus.

One of the highlights of the exhibition is the large display from the Azerbaijani regions. Here there are opportunities to undertake a variety of tourism activities, including rural and ecological tourism, rafting, and skiing and coastal holidays.

Since its foundation, AITF has had the active support of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of Azerbaijan, and the patronage of UNWTO, the Association of International Tourism Trade and the Azerbaijan Export and Investment Promotion Foundation and the National Confederation of Entrepreneurs’ (Employers) Association of the Republic of Azerbaijan.

President Ilham Aliyev and his spouse viewed the pavilions of the exhibitions.