Caspian Without Standards: Why Azerbaijan Has Yet to Turn Its Beaches Into a Tourism Brand

Azerbaijan will celebrate Eid al-Adha on May 27–28. The holiday is included in the list of official public holidays and is observed as a non-working day.

Azerbaijan’s tourism sector in 2026 has encountered its first serious sign of cooling after several years of post-pandemic recovery. According to data from the State Statistics Committee of the Republic of Azerbaijan, 658,500 foreigners and stateless persons from 175 countries visited the country in January–April, which is 10.5 percent lower compared to the same period last year.

Small and medium-sized enterprises in Azerbaijan are entering a period of growing financial pressure in which liquidity management is becoming as important as revenue growth itself. Rising borrowing costs, import inflation, volatile logistics routes and slower consumer demand are forcing businesses to rethink one of the most overlooked aspects of corporate finance: emergency reserves.

Housing prices in Baku are rising again. But the current upswing differs from previous cycles, when property values increased almost automatically alongside oil revenues and a stable manat. The market is becoming far more selective: capital is concentrating in a limited number of districts and projects, while parts of the aging Soviet-era housing stock are gradually losing investment appeal.