15:23 - 11.03.2026

---

March 11, Fineko/abc.az. The processes taking place around Iran and the unrest in the Middle East have negative impact on a range of industries, including the tourism sector. For example, there is sharp decline in the tourism sector. The holidays of Ramadan and Novruz are ahead. Earlier, in the pre-war years, Azerbaijan was visited by enough tourists from neighboring countries in connection with the holidays. But I wonder what this year will be like against the background of the war?

Tourism expert Jeyhun Ashurov informed ABC.AZ that, of course, the presence of war in the region has created difficulties for those who want to come to our country. Believing that the prolongation of the war in the coming periods will have even more negative impact on the tourism sector, the expert believes that during the conflict people postpone their trips due to security issues:

"The fact that Azerbaijan's southern neighbor, Iran and Israel, has started a war, its intensification and spread to a wider geography, and, of course, the closure of airspace have very negative impact on this area. Since the beginning of the war, communication in this direction has practically stopped, and the war, unfortunately, is still ongoing. This has led to serious reduction in both the number of people leaving the country, i.e. from Azerbaijan abroad, and the number of tourists coming to Azerbaijan from these regions. In general, in such security-related situations, the first step people take is to stop traveling. In this sense, there is general decrease in the number of arrivals. If the number of tourists coming to Azerbaijan fell by around 2% in 2025 compared to the previous year, we expect it to recover this year. Even in January, there was a rise on the number of tourists and foreigners arriving almost by 5%, but starting from February and March, we are again experiencing stagnation in connection with the mentioned issues. Hotels in the capital are especially feeling this stagnation. As a whole, occupancy rate dropped by 30-40% compared to previous periods. And we hope that after these issues are resolved, the market will gradually recover."

By Elmir Muradov