Adam Khakimov, Russia's trade representative in Azerbaijan, announced that the launch of luxury cruise liners between Moscow and Baku is planned. According to him, the round trip will last approximately 14 days. The journey in each direction will take one week.
In a statement to Modern.az, Azer Badamov, Deputy Chairman of the Milli Majlis Committee on Economic Policy, Industry and Entrepreneurship, positively assessed the initiative to launch luxury cruise liners on the Moscow-Baku route.
According to the deputy, the project should allow for mutual tourist trips not only in the Moscow-Baku direction, but also in the Baku-Moscow direction:
"This project will allow for mutual tourist trips not only in the Moscow-Baku direction, but also on the Baku-Moscow route. This initiative can give impetus to the formation of a new and promising direction in Azerbaijan's tourism sector. If we look at the tourism experience of the world, especially European countries, we will see that cruise tourism has been widespread for many years and attracts great interest among tourists. In this regard, the development of such a tourism model in the Caspian Sea will create new economic and tourism opportunities for our country."
Azer Badamov believes that Azerbaijan should further explore existing opportunities for expanding its tourism sector on a regional scale, creating new routes and increasing international tourist flow:
"Baku, with its favorable geographical position, developed tourism infrastructure and rich cultural and historical heritage, has the potential to become one of the main centers of cruise tourism in the Caspian basin in the future. Of course, the launch of cruise liners alone is not enough for this. The relevant passenger infrastructure, customs and border crossing procedures, and the level of reception and service for tourists at the Baku International Sea Trade Port must be brought into line with international standards. At the same time, issues related to safety, logistics and the economic efficiency of the route must also be resolved in a comprehensive manner.
The implementation of such a project will create conditions for attracting additional tourists to the country, developing hotels, restaurants, transport, trade and other service sectors. This, in turn, can contribute to the creation of new jobs, the expansion of entrepreneurial activity and the provision of additional financial inflows to the country's economy."
"Overall, I think that Azerbaijan should develop cruise tourism as a new tourism product in the Caspian region, benefit from international experience in this area and make efficient use of existing opportunities. Steps taken in this direction can serve to strengthen Baku's position on the international tourism map," the deputy noted.
Vugar Bayramov, a member of the Milli Majlis Committee on Economic Policy, Industry and Entrepreneurship, believes that the development of tourism relations should be considered not only in the context of cooperation with Russia, but also with the Caspian Central Asian countries as a whole.
According to the deputy, the launch of cruise liners and the organization of tours via the Caspian Sea can create conditions for attracting more tourists to the region:
"The launch of cruise liners and the organization of tours via the Caspian Sea can lead to more tourists coming to the region. Today, it is important to offer very different products in the tourism sector. Ultimately, this can affect the number of tourists coming to Azerbaijan. Tourism is one of the important sectors for Azerbaijan. Currently, the tourism sector is the second largest foreign exchange earner in Azerbaijan. Cooperation with Russia, as well as future cooperation with Caspian countries, is important in terms of more tourists, more foreign exchange and state revenues."
How much can the trip cost?
To compare the price of a Moscow-Baku cruise, one can look at luxury ship tours of similar duration offered for sale in Russia.
For example, a seven-day trip on the "Mustay Karim" ship in June 2027 in the Moscow-Kazan direction starts from 192,200 rubles, approximately 4,000 manats, per person. The discounted starting price of a seven-day cruise on the "Vladimir Zhirinovsky" liner in July on the St. Petersburg-Moscow route is approximately 4,575 manats. A 15-day tour on the same liner in the Moscow-St. Petersburg-Moscow direction is offered from approximately 9,566 manats.
Based on these examples, if a similar pricing policy is applied on the Moscow-Baku line, a starting price of approximately 4-5 thousand manats per person for a one-week trip and 8-10 thousand manats for a two-week round trip can be estimated. These amounts are approximate indicators calculated on a comparative basis. The final tariff will depend on the level of the ship, the category of the cabin, the season and the services included in the package.
