Baku, October 1, 2025
New statistics show a troubling trend for Azerbaijan’s tourism sector. In January-August 2025, the country received 1.72 million foreign visitors and stateless persons, down 1.6% from the same period last year.
On paper the drop looks minor, but in reality, the direction is clear: tourism is shrinking year after year.
For economist Natig Jafarli, the explanation is obvious. “Every year we are seeing fewer tourists,” he wrote on Facebook. “Closed land borders are dealing a serious blow to Azerbaijan’s economy, especially the tourism sector.”
The irony is hard to ignore. Official data shows that 22.6% of visitors entered by road or rail and another 1.4% by sea, despite the government’s continued insistence that land borders remain closed. Jafarli voiced the frustration many Azerbaijanis feel:
“If foreigners can take these trains, cross by car, or arrive by ship – why can’t Azerbaijani citizens do the same?”
The double standard has fueled resentment. For nearly five years, citizens have been effectively locked in by land, forced to rely on costly flights even to neighboring Georgia or Russia. Meanwhile, foreigners arrive by the very routes denied to locals. The official justification of “health security” long after the pandemic ended has convinced few.
The consequences are piling up:
Lost tourism revenue as fewer visitors choose Baku over open neighbors like Georgia, Armenia or Turkey.
Rising costs for citizens, who can no longer travel affordably by road.
An image problem abroad, as Azerbaijan presents itself as “open for business” while keeping borders half-shut.
Tourism breakdowns underscore the imbalance. Visitors from the Gulf fell by 6.3%, from CIS countries by 6.1%, while EU arrivals grew by 7.5%. Russia remains the largest source market, accounting for a quarter of all visitors. But the overall picture is stagnation at best, decline at worst.
“Everyone in the region is competing for tourists, but Azerbaijan is competing with itself,” says a Baku hotelier. “You can’t market a country as welcoming when its own citizens are barred from leaving by land.”
For many critics, the issue is no longer about health policy at all – it’s about control and isolation. The government’s unwillingness to reopen borders is seen as a political choice disguised as a precaution, one that hurts both the economy and the public.
The numbers may only show a 1.6% drop, but behind the statistics lies a bigger story: a country slowly shutting itself off, while the world – and its neighbors – move on.
