COP29 Unveils Accommodation Platform
Azerbaijan, the host of COP29, today unveiled its interactive accommodation portal, the system that will enable participants and attendees to book hotel rooms and other lodging for the United Nations Climate Change Conference being held in Baku in November.
In a press conference at the COP29 Office, Azada Huseynova, Deputy Chair of the State Tourism Agency of the Republic of Azerbaijan, said the accommodation system has been designed to ensure that a range of room types and locations will be available to people who want to attend the event.
“We will be ready to welcome the world to Baku. We have studied the experiences of previous COP host countries and how they approached their accommodation programs and have integrated some elements of those practices into our plans as COP host country,” Ms. Huseynova said. “We have put in place the infrastructure that will ensure that participants from around the world can make their accommodation booking in a smooth and speedy way.”
The State Tourism Agency is working with hotels, on-line accommodation marketplaces, and other residential and lodging locations in the city and region, to ensure that the event will be able to host the full complement of attendees comfortably and enjoyably.
The lodging made available in the system today is the first phase of a comprehensive rollout. Further phases will release additional rooms at additional hotels and lodging facilities.
The hotels included in the platform have been selected on the basis of quality, location and transportation services that will be arranged for the event. The Agency audited more than 300 accommodation establishments, and approximately 200 have been classified and received a star rating. About 40 hotels that did not earn a star classification were given a period to improve facilities and performance before being re-audited.
Ms. Huseynova also provided details of a customer service training program being undertaken by the State Tourism Agency in advance of COP29. Approximately 2,000 employees from about 300 establishments in the cities of Baku and Sumgayit, and the wider Absheron region are participating.
In addition, the Agency plans to provide training and certification to 200 tourist guides, and training to a further 1,000 tourism volunteers, who will be assigned to hotels to support guests during COP29.