OREANDA-NEWS. February 17, 2009. Azerbaijan Republic Ministry of Culture and Tourism registers the expansion of the tourist flow geography in Azerbaijan.

Azerbaijan’s Minister of Culture and Tourism Abulfaz Garayev said that the list of countries from which tourists arrive in Azerbaijan significantly expanded in 2008.

“The growth was observed among such CIS countries as Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Belarus. Among Islamic countries the leaders were Iran, Bahrain, UAE, Oman, Jordan, among European countries – Germany (26% growth), Austria, Bulgaria, Bosnia and Herzegovina (12 fold growth), Italy (2.2 fold), Finland (2.4 fold), among Asian countries – India, Philippines, Africa – Morocco and Egypt. The growth of tourists coming from the United States made 47%, from Canada – 76%. The growth of tourist flow from Australia has been registered as well,” Minister said.

1.898 million people (42% growth) arrived in Azerbaijan in 2008, 1.407 million out of whom are tourists i.e. the growth totaled 39.4%.