President Ilham Aliyev has approved the “State Programme for Tourism Development in the Republic of Azerbaijan for 2026–2030”, which aims to nearly double the country’s tourism receipts and increase the number of international visitors to 3.8 million.

Azerbaijan has introduced a five-year state programme setting out the country’s tourism development roadmap. Approved by a presidential order signed by Ilham Aliyev on 20 August 2026, the programme seeks to strengthen tourism’s contribution to socioeconomic development, diversify the non-oil-and-gas economy and reinforce Azerbaijan’s position in the international tourism market.

According to APA, the programme provides for the development of competitive tourism products, improvements in sectoral governance and regulation, the promotion of tourism in the regions, and stronger branding and marketing activities.

International visitor target set at 3.8 million

The State Programme aims to increase the number of international visitors to Azerbaijan from 2.57 million in 2025 to approximately 3.8 million by 2030. This represents an average annual growth rate of 8.1% over the programme period.

Receipts from foreign visitor spending are projected to rise from 3.3 billion manat in 2025 to 6.3 billion manat in 2030, nearly doubling within five years.

The programme also sets the following targets:

• Increasing the value added generated by tourism-related sectors by approximately 40% in real terms to 12.17 billion manat,
• Raising the share of tourism-related sectors in non-oil-and-gas gross domestic product from 7.5% to 8.6%,
• Increasing the number of Azerbaijani citizens travelling domestically for tourism purposes to 7.37 million,
• Raising the number of overnight stays in hotels from 4.57 million to 6.32 million.

Tourism investment incentives to be strengthened

Under the presidential order, Azerbaijan’s Cabinet of Ministers is required to submit proposals for improving the country’s Law on Tourism within six months, based on recommendations from the State Tourism Agency.

The mechanism for issuing investment promotion certificates for tourism projects is to be revised within three months, taking the sector’s specific characteristics into account. The programme also provides for the establishment of new tourism and recreation zones, infrastructure development in these areas, and support for investments in accommodation, health tourism, winter sports and congress tourism.

Contribution of air transport to tourism to be increased

Azerbaijan’s Ministry of Digital Development and Transport will prepare proposals within three months on increasing the contribution of air transport to tourism development and submit them to the Cabinet of Ministers.

The ministries of finance and economy will work with the State Tourism Agency to ensure that funding for the planned measures is included in the annual state budget and public investment programmes.

The Cabinet of Ministers will coordinate implementation and report the results to the president once a year. Monitoring and evaluation will be conducted by the Center for Analysis of Economic Reforms and Communication at the request of the State Tourism Agency.