On April 28, Azerbaijan was unanimously confirmed as a full member of the Hotelstars Union (HSU) during the Union’s 9th General Assembly held in Oslo, Norway.

For the first time in the South Caucasus region, Azerbaijan has been granted full membership status, allowing it to participate in the Union’s governing structures.

Speaking at the Assembly, Rashad Aliyev, Deputy CEO of the Azerbaijan Tourism Board, noted that in recent years, the country has been actively promoting the enhancement of international quality standards in the hotel sector. He stated that to date, 263 hotels have been awarded star ratings by the official certification body responsible for determining hotel categories. He also emphasized that the star classification process will be expanded to cover Azerbaijan’s regions this year and that, as part of a public-private partnership approach, hotels in these regions will not be charged certification fees during their first year.

It should be noted that under a joint cooperation agreement signed in 2018 between the Azerbaijan Tourism Board and the Azerbaijan Hotel Association, hotel star categories are determined through the National Star Classification System, which is based on the criteria of the Hotelstars Union.