00:00Vielen Dank und willkommen zu dieser Edition von der Agenda,
00:06von Baku in Azerbaijan.
00:08Es ist mein Glück, unsere Guest Florian Sengschmidt,
00:11CEO der Azerbaijan Tourist Board.
00:13Vielen Dank für uns heute.
00:15Wir beginnen mit dem Peace.
00:17Es gibt Peace in der Region jetzt.
00:19Können Sie den Impacten auf Tourismus in generell?
00:23Peace bringt eine neue Hoffnung in der Region.
00:26Peace allows all beautiful countries to be promoted
00:32as a multi-country destination, a multi-country journey.
00:37And maybe this has been one of the obstacles in the past
00:40that every country was a single stand-alone destination.
00:45But in future, this might bring a new destination,
00:49the South Caucasus, on the map.
00:51It is the South Caucasus, what defines also the broader region.
00:57And especially when we look at long-haul travelers from Asia, from the Americas.
01:02Tell me about how that's going to work in terms of connectivity within the country.
01:07Is it easy to get from Baku to other areas?
01:10It's a beautiful country.
01:11It's so much to offer that, you know, a lot of the world don't understand.
01:15Please explain what's going to happen in that way.
01:17Many cultures have crisscrossed the country, many nations.
01:23People live here of various religions, of various ethnicities, peacefully together.
01:29They think that is exactly what you feel when you also land in Baku.
01:34You have arrived to a very energetic place.
01:38And I think the mission is to take this out to the regions
01:44and to bring this same energy and development also to other parts of the country.
01:51And that's exciting, isn't it, when you look at how this can open up,
01:55especially with the borders as well, that movement.
01:58Because, as you mentioned earlier,
02:00often that hub will allow people to really plan a different kind of trip
02:05and put the South Caucasus on the map.
02:08I know it already is on the map, but really on that map.
02:12Absolutely.
02:12The South Caucasus is a destination.
02:15And not only in the region, it creates new partnership opportunities,
02:19but also for the expanded region across the Caspian with Central Asia.
02:25We're already implementing, currently, such a fruitful cooperation with Uzbekistan, for example.
02:29We have been promoting the Silk Road heritage across European cities this year,
02:36jointly with our colleagues and friends from Uzbekistan.
02:39So any opening brings new opportunities, brings new perspectives.
02:45And definitely there will be a huge benefit also for Azerbaijan.
02:50So if we look at the fact that you mentioned the number of travelers
02:54that could be coming to this region, to this country now,
02:58that it wants to be part of that tourist go-to nation.
03:05There are implications internally with that, aren't there?
03:09Because there will be a greater influx of people.
03:12Tell me about how the country is going to cope with that.
03:16Connectivity is great.
03:18Baku is connected to many places also.
03:20There is a lot of new hubs opening in the broader region,
03:24which will bring even better connectivity also to Baku,
03:28although might not be directly connected.
03:31We know the global challenges, for example, in aviation,
03:35is shortage of aircrafts is everywhere, wherever you look.
03:38But with the years to come, and also new aircrafts coming in for the national flag carrier,
03:44plus attracting new carriers, and again, not only to Baku,
03:47but also to the regions will have a very positive impact.
03:52And reputation is so important, and I want to touch on trust and safety.
03:58There can be perceptions for those who don't know about the region,
04:03about those two things.
04:04What are your comments about that?
04:06Peace will build further trust, will build more confidence to investors,
04:12to global brands, to anyone who is coming to the region.
04:16But safety is something that is a very personal perception.
04:20You cannot talk about safety, you can only feel it.
04:23So if you could describe why someone should come here to Baku
04:28and travel around Azerbaijan in one sentence, what would it be?
04:34You have semi-desserts, deserts.
04:36You have a land empowered by Mother Nature from wind, the sun, the fire,
04:42and many resources, you know, linked to that earth,
04:48and then add the layer of people on it with different cultures,
04:52with different ethnicities, languages, background.
04:55Florian, thank you for joining us in this edition of The Agenda.
04:58Thank you.
04:59Thank you very much.
04:59Thank you.
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