Azerbaijan simplifies hostel opening procedures

The Azerbaijan Milli Majlis (Parliament) introduced on 25 April amendments to the Housing Code of Azerbaijan, allowing the use of living areas in multi-apartment buildings and residential houses as hotels and hostels.

Hotels, hotel-type facilities and other objects designed for temporary residence, are referred to in the document as the ‘means of accommodation’, and are regarded by their status as the ‘living area’. The matter essentially concerns hostels, relatively cheap, and ‘bed &breakfast’ type lodging places.

Ali Huseynli, Chairman of the Parliament’s State Construction Committee, who is an initiator of the amendment bill, said that It’s a minor but yet an important change for tourism development.

Asim Mollazadeh, MP, Chairman of the Democratic Reforms Party, opposed the amendments. He believes that the use of living areas for hotels may violate the people’s right to rest and recreation. Chairman of the Parliament’s Committee on Labor and Social Policy, Hadi Rajabli didn’t back his colleague, saying that the work on the tourism bill had been underway for a long time and the world countries’ best practices were being studied.

“As far as we know, individual apartments are used for tourist accommodation in Europe. This bill will greatly contribute to the development of tourism in Azerbaijan,” Rajabli stated.

Aflatun Amashov, MP, Chairman of the Press Council, also supported the initiative and, in this regard, referred to the experience of neighboring Georgia.

JAMnews has recently reported on a scandal over a hostel closure in Baku under the pretext of it ‘being inappropriate for the Azerbaijani mindset’.
https://jam-news.net/?p=31625&lang=ru