According to official statistics, 658.5 thousand tourists visited Azerbaijan in the first 4 months of 2026. This represents a 10.5 percent decrease compared to the same period of the previous year. So, why has the number of tourists coming to our country decreased?
Although there are several objective reasons for the decrease in the number of tourists coming to Azerbaijan, traditional factors also remain. The imbalances in the country of origin structure of tourists visiting the country affect the total number of arrivals. Indeed, approximately half of the tourists coming to Azerbaijan still come from 2 countries. In that period, out of every 100 tourists arriving in Azerbaijan, 27 were Russian and 22 were Turkish citizens. Moreover, while 11 percent of the tourists who came to Azerbaijan in the first 4 months of the previous year were from India, this figure has now decreased to about 3 percent. Therefore, diversifying the incoming tourism markets and strengthening their sustainability remains a priority.
Regarding the effects of the Iran war on the number of tourists coming to regional countries, during the mentioned period, the conflict showed its impact on the number of tourists coming to Azerbaijan and Georgia. While the number of tourists coming to Georgia increased by 4 percent in the first quarter of this year, a slight decrease was recorded in the first 4 months. This is directly related to a 49 percent decrease in the number of tourists coming from Iran. During the same period, a 29.5 percent decrease was also recorded in the number of tourists coming from India to the neighboring country.
During the reporting period, the number of arrivals from European Union member countries to Azerbaijan increased by 17.1 percent, and arrivals from CIS countries increased by 3.5 percent, but the number of tourists from Gulf countries decreased by 27.8 percent. In addition to general factors, the war in the region also had a special influence on the decrease in the number of visitors from Arab countries.
Alongside all this, deepening structural and institutional reforms in the tourism sector is a priority. Tourism is the sector that brings the most foreign currency to Azerbaijan after oil. Before the pandemic, annual tourism revenues were close to $2.7 billion. This sector also makes a significant contribution to employment. In this regard, further development of tourism infrastructure and price optimization could allow more tourists to come to Azerbaijan. Monitoring shows that not only in Baku but also in the regions, the prices for tourism services remain high. This does not leave the development of both domestic and incoming tourism unaffected.
Vuqar Bayramov,
economist and deputy