15:06 - 5.03.2018

---

March 5, Fineko/abc.az. The Ministry of Culture and Tourism of Azerbaijan is taking measures to expand the range of services provided.

Head of the tourism sector of the Ministry Aydin Ismiyev stated that the department is working on the development of standards for halal tourism.

"The issue of developing such standards has become urgent and necessary against the backdrop of a growing flow of tourists from Arab countries to the country," Ismiyev said.

According to the official data of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of Azerbaijan, the number of tourists who visited Azerbaijan in January 2018 exceeded 185,000 which is 17% more than in the same period of the previous year. The majority were the visitors from Russia - 59,990 people, Georgia (45,679 people), Turkey (24,276 people), Iran (13,437 people) and the United Arab Emirates (8,265 people). In comparison with January of last year, the largest increase in the number of tourists was recorded from such countries as Kuwait (540%), Pakistan (316%), India (234%) and Qatar (167%), the number of visitors from these countries increased by 5,720 or 21% of the total flow growth.