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Abulfas Garayev meets with Secretary-General of World Tourism Organization - PHOTO

Abulfas Garayev meets with Secretary-General of World Tourism Organization - <font color=red>PHOTO</font>

15 November 2011 11:43 (UTC +04:00)

Baku. Ulkar Gasimova â€“ APA. Minister of Culture and Tourism Abulfas Garayev met with Secretary-General of the World Tourism Organization Taleb Rifai, who is visiting Azerbaijan, APA reports. Abulfas Garayev welcomed the guest on behalf of the Azerbaijani government and expressed his gratitude to him for visiting our country. Minister mentioned that President Ilham Aliyev first received Taleb Rifai, they discussed the prospects of cooperation between Azerbaijan and the World Tourism Organization. Abulfas Garayev expressed his confidence that the cooperation will be much closer after the meetings to be held by Taleb Rifai in Baku. He said Azerbaijan is successfully implementing its obligations in connection with the declaration of 2011 as â€œYear of Tourismâ€.

Secretary-General spoke about his meeting with President Ilham Aliyev.
â€œI expressed my gratitude to Mr. President for Azerbaijanâ€™s support for the development of national and international tourism. Azerbaijan has begun to take a very big place in the world of tourism. As an International Tourism Organization, we are ready to assist and support Azerbaijan. The achievements gained within the first six months of 2011 are splendid. Growth in Azerbaijanâ€™s tourism has almost reached 15 percent. Though there is crisis in tourism of most countries, the results are good here. We hope, this achievement and growth will continue in 2012. As we know, Azerbaijan will host several important international events in 2012. Eurovision Song Contest 2012 tops this list. Moreover, international sports and cultural events will be held. I assured Mr. President that the International Tourism Organization will support the achievements of Azerbaijan,â€ he said.

The meeting continued without the participation of journalists.