TOURISM
PROFESSOR TERRY STEVENS » MANAGING DIRECTOR » STEVENS & ASSOCIATES
BOOMING BAKU
Te capital of Azerbaijan, one of the world’s largest oil producers, is proving hot property for luxury hotel and spa developers
T
he charge of international hotel brands into the Caucasus – the region situated between the Black and Caspian Sea – is heav- ily focused on Baku, the capital
of Azerbaijan on the southern shore of the Absheron Peninsula. It’s attracting the attention of Hyatt, Hilton, Fairmont, Marri- ott, Kempinski, Four Seasons and Starwood Hotels & Resorts – which are all drawn to this dynamic boomtown where ostentatious lifestyles and dramatic skyscrapers form the backdrop to an ancient walled-city that’s listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Baku, which has a population of around
2 million, has a rich history as the capital of a country that has straddled the territories of competing Arab, Persian, Turkish and Rus- sian empires over the last two millennia. It gained independence in 1991, following the fall of the Soviet Union and today global interest has been stimulated by its extensive oil resources – in 2007 and 2008, Azerbaijan was the world’s largest oil producer. Modern living in the city has flourished, which gives
the ancient metropolis a cosmopolitan feel with a strong business tourism market.
TOURISM STRATEGY Tourism is rapidly becoming an important part of the economy of Azerbaijan, although accurate statistics are illusive. Estimates by American Express suggest that in 2003-2004 the country was hosting more than 1 million tourist arrivals, mostly from near neighbour countries, such as Armenia, Russia, Iran and Turkey. Te UN World Tourism Organiza- tion (UNWTO) is currently working with the country’s Ministry of Culture and Tour- ism to rectify the lack of statistics. Te ministry, established in 1953, is the
government agency that oversees tourism development. Initially responsible for cul- tural preservation, its focus shiſted over time to developing resorts until the collapse of the Soviet Union and the Nagorno-Karabakh civil war in the 1990s, which crippled the fledgling tourism industry. Te sector began to pick up pace once more in the early 2000s following the 2002 Mission
Report on Tourism Marketing by the UNWTO, which successfully nurtured and whetted the government’s appetite to develop interna- tional leisure and business tourism. On the back of this in 2004, Azerbaijan’s Citizens Development Corps suggested a Rapid Assess- ment Strategy for tourism development. Over the past eight years, the ministry has
increasingly focused on creating an envi- ronment where international investment in tourism can flourish – including the build- ing of core infrastructure and enhancement of hospitality skills and human capacity. Today, its priorities are based on shaping
Azerbaijan as an elite destination for spa and wellness tourism with a complementary strand focusing on religious tourism. Te strategy has highlighted the Absheron Peninsula and, par- ticularly the economically and vibrant city of Baku as the hub of development.
INVESTMENT SURGE By mid-2000, there were around 100 hotels in Azerbaijan: mostly concentrated in Baku and the two other major cities of Ganja and Sheki.
The Flame Towers (above) is a standout project in Baku; a 299-bedroom Fairmont hotel with an ESPA spa (right) will form a part of the development when the towers open in early 2012
82 Read Spa Business online
spabusiness.com / digital SPA BUSINESS 1 2012 ©Cybertrek 2012
ELNUR /
SHUTTERSTOCK.COM
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100