Opening today at the Contemporary Art Space in Baku, the exhibition “Catalyzer” displays video art works by modern artists. Oranized by the Baku Creative Center, and with the contributions of the United Artists’ Club there, the art exhibit will hopefully further stimulate the development of such arts in Azerbaijan.

In tourism news from Azerbaijan, according to Culture and Tourism Minister Abulfaz Garayev the goal of the ministry in the mid term is to grow the tourism sector there by some 70 to 80 percent.

In news from one of Armenia’s most remote regions, the National Statistical Service (NKR) reports that visits to ancient Karabakh were 36.9% higher for 2012 than visits from the previous year.

Coming up in April the Azerbaijan International Travel & Tourism Fair (AITF) arrives at Baku Expo Exhibition and Convention Center. Azerbaijan’s fast moving tourism market is the highlight of this Caucasian regional event turned world tourism trade show.

The number of tourists visiting Azerbaijan last year increased by some 2.4 percent when compared with the previous year. This via a report by Azerbaijan’s Tourism Ministry from the World Economic Forum results. Overall, when compared with previous figures, Azerbaijan has moved five spaces to 79th among countries in Europe where tourism is concerned.

This year’s meeting of the Tripartite Council for the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars Railway Project is to be held in Istanbul starting today.  The railway, a joint Georgian-Azerbaijani-Turkish inter-state affair, is heavily funded by the Azerbaijan State Oil Fund, and of mutual benefit to all the partners.

Tourism officials in Azerbaijan are busy finalizing their preparations in advance of next month’s ITB Berlin 2013, an event in which the Eastern European country is set to feature prominently as its official Convention & Cultural Partner.

How about trying a Eastern European destination, instead of the beaten path of Western Europe – Paris, Vienna, or Berlin? Your call. This side of the world still waits with fresh homemade bread, a shot of schnapps, and a warm heart. Come in, and find out.

Fancy doing something a little more daring during your next holiday break than the usual sun, sand and surf? If so, then according to one travel organization at least, you couldn’t do much worse than choose Azerbaijan as your next holiday destination.

According to news from the Azerbaijan tourism sector, Netherlands based Royal Imtech NV announced their Turkish subsidiary AE Arma-Elektropanc will provide technical solutions for the new Shahdag Hotels project in Gusar.