Tourism Development Opportunities in the Gadabay and Tovuz Regions of Gazakh-Tovuz Economic Region

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to assess the possibility of tourism development in the mountainous parts of the Gazakh-Tovuz economic region. As a result of the study, it was established that the studied regions have a large tourist potential, consisting of natural and historical and cultural tourist resources. It is shown that the natural conditions and natural resources of the studied regions are favorable for the development of some types of tourism, such as ecotourism, health tourism, sports, skiing, event, ethnographic and historical-cultural tourism. In the course of the conducted analysis, it was established that the development of tourism can play a leading role in the social and economic development of Gadabay and Tovuz region. Statistical indicators obtained from the State Statistical Committee of Azerbaijan, materials of fund works of the Institute of Geography, as well as various literary materials were used as a source. Systematic, evaluative and statistical methods were used in the study. With the growth of economic indicators of hotels and similar means of accommodation in Gazakh-Tovuz economic region and Tovuz region during 2015–2022, a decrease in statistical data was observed in Gadabay region in some parameters, such as the number of overnight stays provided to persons accommodated in hotels and the number of persons accommodated. The main reason for this is that the tourist potential of the Gadabay region has not yet been fully utilized. The proposed method, with data on natural and historical and cultural resources, can be used to study the development of tourism in other districts of the Gazakh-Tovuz economic region.