Azerbaijan set to ease visa process for EU travelers

Azerbaijan's State Tourism Agency revealed plans on Tuesday to ease the visa process for tourists from the European Union member states, according to the Baku office of Russia's Interfax News Agency.

"In order to increase tourist flow from the EU countries, we are now engaged in talks to facilitate the visa regime and introduce visa-on-arrival procedure at the Azerbaijani airports," Chairman of Azerbaijan's State Tourism Agency Fuad Naghiyev was quoted as saying.

He said Azerbaijan expected an increase in the tourist numbers by the end of the year.

"We forecast a growth of between 8 percent and 12 percent in the number of tourists. In particular, this summer season we anticipate large tourist flows from the EU, China and India," he said.

Earlier this year, Azerbaijan State Tourism Agency and China's Ministry of Culture and Tourism signed a memorandum of understanding, aiming to increase the number of Chinese group tourists visiting Azerbaijan to 200,000 in the next few years.

In 2016, Azerbaijan simplified the visa process for Chinese visitors in a bid to boost tourism flows from China.