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AZERBAIJAN to Build on Post-Health Crisis GCC Tourism Boom
Tourists arriving in Laos no longer have to meet covid entry rules as long as they are fully vaccinated. Laos saw tourism drop 80% in 2020 (4.7 million foreign tourists visited in 2019). Unvaccinated visitors must conduct a Rapid Antigen Test issued within 48 hours of leaving their origin country. Tourists will also have to pay for their own medical treatment should they become Covid-19 positive.
Baku, Azerbaijan
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With the number of arrivals from the GCC countries seeing an unprecedented rise, the Azerbaijan Tourism Board is set to encourgage further growth of tourism from the region.
In 2019, 3.2 million global tourists visited Azerbaijan, which fell to 1.1 million in 2021. The GCC region is now the fastest-recovering region among Azerbijan’s core markets. Tourists from Saudi Arabia in the Q1 2022 have already exceeded the total number of arrivals in 2019.
of tourists from Saudi Arabia has increased by 20% compared to pre-pandemic figures. Azerbaijan received over 32,000 travellers from the GCC in 2021 and more than 22,000 arrivals in the first quarter of 2022 alone. The number
This makes the GCC the largest market after Russia and Turkey. Within the GCC, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Kuwait are the biggest markets. Tourist flow is expected to further increase with travellers no longer needing a PCR test before visiting the country.
Turkey is eager to welcome international tourists back and as such the government has set a target of 42 million tourists and UK£28 billion in tourism income for 2022.
Foreign arrivals in April 2022 reached 225.6% more than from a year earlier to 2.57 million. The main tourists are European holidaymakers from the UK, Germany and The Netherlands. Also helping is the depreciation of the Turkish lira making holidays in Turkey that much cheaper for holidaymakers.
