Azerbaijan was represented at MED TOURISM-2022 in Moscow
MED TOURISM-2022, the CIS’ largest medical and health tourism forum was held in Moscow, the capital of Russia.
The main institutions of the CIS member countries involved in medical tourism activities took part in the 4-day event. Azerbaijan was represented at the forum by Mr. Ruslan Guliyev, a member of the Presidium of the National Confederation of Entrepreneurs (Employers) Organizations (ASK) of the Republic of Azerbaijan, and the chairman of the Azerbaijan Health and Thermal Tourism Support Association.
The formation of an alliance uniting health tourism associations of Russia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan was announced on the first day of the event. The newly created institution will coordinate the cooperation between the leading professional associations of medical tourism of the member countries.
The forum continued with panel discussions in the following days. Speaking at the “Russia and the Middle East” panel session, Mr. Ruslan Guliyev, the representative of Azerbaijan, emphasized the importance and relevance of holding presently such events. In his statement, he described the tourism sector to be highly vulnerable with respect to cataclysms, natural phenomena, pandemic risks, economic and political crises, and wars and highlighted its vulnerability at both regional and international levels. He noted that the Covid-19 pandemic paralyzed the global tourism economy in a short period of time resulting in global restrictions on international logistics and communications that have cost the tourism sector trillions in lost revenue and 100 million jobs by producing a global tourism crisis. “Given that 75 percent of the working population in the global tourism industry are represented by young people under the age 25 and of which the same share is represented by women, we can appreciate the seriousness of the industry challenges”.
When speaking about the future development of wellbeing tourism in Azerbaijan and referring to the “Strategic Road Map for the Development of the Specialized Tourism Industry in the Republic of Azerbaijan” (adopted in 2016) as well as the Law on Natural Therapeutic Resources, Spa Localities, and Health Resorts, Mr. Ruslan Guliyev said that Azerbaijan pays special attention to wellbeing tourism with aim to enhance it. He noted that there are great prospects in the field of wellbeing tourism in Azerbaijan. The Naftalan oil which is famous for its healing properties, the Health Resort of Galaalti, the Duzdag sanatorium in Nakhichevan, and the hot springs of Masally have been very popular amongst the CIS countries’ population since the Soviet Union time. The victory in the Patriotic War of 2020 has significantly increased the wellbeing tourism opportunities of Azerbaijan along with other tourism areas. Thus, the abundant tourism resources of Karabakh and Eastern Zangezur economic regions, which were freed from occupation, are currently being explored, and further actions in this direction are yet to be identified.
Moreover, cooperation memoranda have been also signed between the medical tourism institutions of the participating countries within the framework of the MED TOURISM-2022 forum. This cooperation has covered medical institutions as well as associations