Azerbaijan promotes spa and sanatorium holidays in Kazakhstan: presentation for travel firms held in Astana

On 4 September 2026 the Embassy of Azerbaijan in Astana hosted a presentation of the country’s sanatorium-resort and wellness potential. The event took place as part of a visit by a delegation of the Azerbaijan Trade Unions Confederation and brought together representatives of Kazakh travel companies, the Report news agency writes.

What was shown to Kazakh agencies

Chingiz Hajiyev, General Director of Kurort CJSC of the Azerbaijan Trade Unions Confederation, spoke about the conditions for treatment and recreation in wellness centres, modern medical equipment, the range of services and the natural treatment methods applied.

• Participants were introduced to the work of the Kurort Tourism Information Centre.
• The electronic voucher issuance system was presented.
• The capabilities of the e-AHIK booking platform were demonstrated.
• Video materials about Azerbaijan’s sanatorium-resort institutions were shown.

The parties discussed promoting Azerbaijani wellness tourism on the Kazakh market, developing direct ties between travel companies and the prospects for joint projects.

Why Kazakhstan

The choice of market is not accidental. According to arrivals data for January–July 2026, Kazakhstan is among the top five sources of visitors to Azerbaijan with a 4.6% share — after Russia, Türkiye, Iran and Georgia. This is an established flow being offered a new product, not a market that has to be opened from scratch.

The choice of the sanatorium segment is telling too. It addresses the core weakness of beach and mountain tourism — seasonality: treatment programmes sell all year round, and the average length of stay is markedly longer than on sightseeing tours.

What it means for travellers

Behind the phrase “sanatorium-resort potential” lie specific destinations. The flagship is Naftalan with its medicinal naphthalan oil, which has virtually no equivalent anywhere in the world. In the Khachmaz district there is Galaalti with its Naftusya mineral water — an hour and a half from the Caspian coast, so a beach holiday in Nabran and a treatment programme can realistically be combined in one trip. In Nakhchivan, Duzdag offers salt caves visited for asthma and allergies.

The practical takeaway: if Azerbaijan is seriously entering the Kazakh market with treatment programmes, demand for specialist sanatoriums will grow, and their room stock is more limited than that of ordinary hotels. Book treatment stays well ahead — and this is the case where the low season brings no discount, because sanatoriums are precisely the places that fill up out of season.

Photo: Ələddin.Məlikov / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 — Naftalan