November 16, 2023, Baku - On November 15, a Memorandum of Understanding on strategic partnership in the field of tourism was signed between Azerbaijan's national air carrier AZAL, Azerbaijan Tourism Board under the State Tourism Agency and China Tourism Group in Beijing, People's Republic of China, Ednews reports.

The signing ceremony was attended by Nazim Samedov, First Deputy Executive Director of AZAL, Florian Sengstschmid, CEO of Azerbaijan Tourism Board, Wang Chenchen, Deputy General Manager of China Tourism Group and other officials.

The memorandum aims to develop new tourism products in Azerbaijan, promote them, and organize various events both online and offline and other joint actions.

“The initiative will focus on developing unique tourism opportunities and increasing the flow of tourists between Azerbaijan and China. AZAL is one of the dynamically developing air carriers in the world with a modern fleet and constantly expands its route network. Thus, the airline plans to launch flights to Beijing in December. Moreover, AZAL aims to develop Chinese destinations in the future,” said Nazim Samedov, First Deputy Executive Director of AZAL.

Florian Sengstschmid, CEO of Azerbaijan Tourism Board, highlighted the significant potential of China's outbound tourism market. He emphasized that the signed memorandum will further increase the number of Chinese visitors to Azerbaijan. Florian Sengstschmid said that in the period from January to October 2023, the number of Chinese travellers to Azerbaijan amounted to 20,469 people, which is a seven-fold increase compared to the same period last year. According to him, these figures reflect the growing interest of Chinese tourists in visiting Azerbaijan.