Opening of seventh new luxury hotel in 12 months confirms Baku’s rapidly growing status as global tourist destination
Baku, 5 April 2012 – Baku’s tourism industry – and its 2020 Olympic Bid – received a further boost this week with the opening of the seventh five-star hotel in less than a year.
The new Marriott Absheron Hotel was inaugurated by the country’s President, Ilham Aliyev and first lady Mehriban Aliyeva. A further two luxury hotels – from the Four Seasons and Fairmont chains – are due to open in Baku later this year.
The rapid growth of the luxury hotel industry in the Azerbaijani capital demonstrates the tourism industry’s belief that the city and country are fast on the way to becoming a world-class destination for visitors from around the globe.
At the inauguration, President Aliyev said: "The opening of the Marriott Absheron is a sign of the fast developing tourism sector of Azerbaijan, as well as the favourable investment climate established for local and international businesses in the country.
"Azerbaijan is certainly the political and economic centre of the region. With more and more visitors each year, our country is becoming one of the major tourism destinations."
Konul Nurullayeva, CEO of the Baku 2020 Bid Committee, said: "Baku is one of the world’s best-kept secrets. Inbound tourism to Azerbaijan has almost doubled over the past five years and visitors here are always taken by surprise by our city’s beauty."
She added: "Our 2020 Olympic Bid is a part of the wider process of transforming Baku into a world-class destination, with first-class business, technology and sports facilities, as well as hotels, museums and art collections, universities and all the infrastructure that comes with them."
"We have been very clear when developing our 2020 Games plan that it should fit our city’s long-term objectives – not that we change our city to adjust to our Olympic Bid plans. We believe that this subtle, but profound key difference can be a model for other cities going forward. We aim to illustrate that hosting the Olympic Games is a prudent investment if planned wisely.
"Between them, these seven new hotels in the city have added almost 2,000 rooms. By 2020, Baku will have 81,800 rooms within 50 kilometres of where we plan to site our Olympic Village – and 50% of these rooms will be within 10 kilometres, ensuring that our accommodation exceeds all the IOC requirements."
"The majority of Baku’s hotels are located on the city’s beautiful seafront Boulevard, which is being extended to run 14 kilometres around Baku Bay – and which is adjacent to the city centre and cultural attractions, including the UNESCO World Heritage Old City."
"All of these hotels are within 25 minutes of the city’s 2020 Games venues."
"In addition, there is also a new 100 billion dollar development at Khazar Islands, 30 kilometres south of Baku, which will include many more hotels with a large selection of affordable accommodation options for the Olympic Family and visitors."-
For more information please visit www.baku2020.com or contact:
Elshad Farzaliyev Dennis Landsbert-Noon
Elshad_f@yahoo.com Dennis.Landsbertnoon@bm.com
+994 77 201 5555 +32 473 68 55 59
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