Azerbaijan looks to heat up tourism

By Nadine Godwin

It was late at night when our group arrived at Yanardag on the outskirts of Baku, the Azerbaijani capital and a port city on the Caspian Sea.

It didn't matter that we showed up around midnight: Yanardag means "fire mountain," and we had come to see a fire that has burned constantly, possibly for centuries, fueled by natural gas escaping from below the ground. We stared into the natural wonder, and a few of us danced before the flames for the dramatic effect.

Historically, these and other natural fires have been a focal point for Zoroastrian fire worshippers.

Yanardag is a site on the outskirts of Baku, an endlessly burning fire fueled by natural gas escaping from underground.

Such fires occur more often in Azerbaijan than anywhere else, making fire a symbol for the country and, ultimately, the inspiration for three Baku skyscrapers, the now-iconic Flame Towers.

One tower houses the city's Fairmont hotel, opened in summer 2013, but the other two, accommodating apartments and businesses, won't be fully operational until sometime later this year.

I stayed at the Fairmont Baku, Flame Towers last fall as a participant in a travel agent fam trip operated by Panorama Travel in New York with participation of the Fairmont and other local hosts.

The Flame Towers are positioned on a hill that overlooks Baku's historical Inner City and the Caspian beyond. At night, the towers are illuminated with colorful images in the world's largest media facade application, clearly visible up and down the city's 8-mile seaside promenade.

Entry to the hotel is via a 56-foot atrium lobby, where the centerpiece is a half-million-dollar Bohemian crystal chandelier in the shape of huge water droplets. The 318-room hotel opened with a handful of restaurants and lounges, including a cigar lounge.

The Fairmont's spa extends over more than 37,000 square feet on two floors and includes the region's largest hammam. The hotel also has indoor and outdoor pools.

In all of the Fairmont's spacious rooms, amenities include commodious marble bathrooms with a deep tub and spa shower; pillow-top mattresses; state-of-the-art technology, including media panels with iPod connectivity; and large, well-equipped desk for those who must work.

Baku’s Flame Towers, seen at night from the city’s seaside promenade. The Fairmont hotel is in the tower on the right.

A room in the Fairmont Baku, Flame Towers with a view of the Caspian Sea.

Selling Azerbaijan

During our visit to Baku, Uzeyir Abdullayev, head of inbound tourism for incoming operator Silkway Travel, introduced his firm's new Baku city package.

Suitable for corporate or leisure customers, he said, it combines nonstop, roundtrip air from New York JFK to Baku on Azerbaijan Airlines with a hotel, airport transfers, visas and one city sightseeing tour. The length of stay and other terms are flexible, but the six-night Fairmont version starts at $1,199 per person, double. Silkway also offers a 24/7 customer-service hotline, he said.

Silkway, founded in 2008, is a subsidiary of Azerbaijan Airlines, which inaugurated its JFK service in 2014. "America is basically a new market" for Silkway, Abdullayev said. The operator is positioned to sell plans featuring any of the country's broad collection of five-star hotels.

Silkway promotes a dozen five-star hotels in Baku — including Four Seasons, Hilton, Kempinski, Marriott and Sheraton as well as Fairmont — but there are "about 20" five-star properties, including local brands, Abdullayev said, and Silkway represents them all.

On a short excursion to Qabala, a resort town, our group visited several five-star properties and stayed in one, the Qafqaz Riverside, which opened in 2010. It is part of Qafqaz Resorts and Hotels, a privately held Azerbaijani group.

Qabala, noted for skiing (expert-level only) and its access to the ancient Udi Christian community at Nij and selected points of historical interest, is typical of sightseeing destinations that may be included on multidestination package tours in Azerbaijan.

Abdullayev said five-star accommodations are available in beach, ski and spa resorts as well as in Guba, a carpet-weaving center and home to a Jewish community in the mountains. The best available hotels at other touring sites might be four- or even three-star choices, but Azerbaijan is not a budget destination, he said.

Visas are an important component of each travel plan because, when purchased in advance, they are e-visas and the cost is $30; Americans can buy visas at the Baku airport on arrival, but for $140, Abdullayev said.

Meanwhile, last November, Azerbaijan Airlines switched aircraft on its New York- Baku service from an A340-500 to a B787 Dreamliner. The service operates two or three times weekly, depending on the season.

The Airbus had 36 business-class seats, but the Dreamliner offers 18 Business Lux seats plus 35 in business class. All cabins, including economy, offer personal seat entertainment and their own menus, free baggage allowances and amenities kits, said Rinat Azizov, the carrier's country manager for the U.S.

Azerbaijan, which benefits from a significant oil and gas industry, in recent years has seen a building boom producing striking examples of modern architecture as well as numerous new construction that tastefully employ classical European designs.

Baku's Heydar Aliyev Airport's international terminal is a sleek and imaginative newbuild, dating from 2013.

The terminal, designed to accommodate 3 million passengers a year, is meant to make Baku a hub for air travel in the Caucasus region. It tripled the airport's capacity; the original terminal is now used for domestic flights only.

Travel Weekly

Photo: Nadine Godwin