Baku to become European capital of sport – former Albanian president

Holding of the First European Games is a great achievement for Azerbaijan, Sali Berisha, Albania’s former president told Trend.

Baku will become European capital of sport, accoridng to Berisha.

“That is a great achievement and defenitely it will be an excellent promotion of the achivement of this country,” he said.

“These Games will contribute to development of Azerbaijan in all aspects, includng tourism,” Berisha added.

Azerbaijan's tourism potential is increasing as does the flow of tourists into the country. As Azerbaijan's Minister of Culture and Tourism Abulfas Garayev said at the Caspian Energy Forum – 2015, the country aims to increase the flow of tourists by 30-40 percent within several years. Garayev said Azerbaijan plans to be receiving some 5 million of tourists annually by 2020.

Baku 2015 is the first ever European Games, an exciting and innovative multi-sport event for the continent which will take place on June 12-28, 2015.

There will be a total of 20 sports at Baku 2015: 16 Olympic sports and four non-Olympic sports. More than 6,000 athletes from across Europe will be representing their nations over 17 days of competition.

Baku was awarded the games by the European Olympic Committees (EOC) in December 2012.

/By Trend/