Tourism potential of south region of Azerbaijan (Lenkeran region) and local population's viewpoint of tourism

In this Thesis the current situation of Tourism in Azerbaijan is assessed from past years and is elaborated on what can be done for its improvement. The south region of Azerbaijan has been extremely attractive for tourism development and step has been taken to apprehend the long-run profit in the aspect of viewpoint and thoughts of local population and their positive approach towards tourism in their region. In the practical part of thesis the Lenkeran is chosen for being directly related to tourism for long time despite the fact that for last 20 years the regional has been put aside from tourism due to some problems, and also the recent interest that government and private investors started to put into its development. The beautiful nature, the climate and historic development of the region has been the standpoint for comparative analysis of Lenkeran region from past years up until now. The results of a research have been processed demographically through SPSS program and hypothesis tests have been carried out accordingly.This Thesis` target group is local population of Lankaran and their viewpoint on tourism, their expectations on development of tourism in the framework of its natural, economic and socio-economic impact. As a result of research findings the profit gained from tourism by Lenkeran population is not considered to be an important income source. Despite that fact, it was well understood that population still conceives tourism very positively and their economic expectations could nevertheless be fulfilled.Key words: Tourism in Azerbaijan, Tourism potential, Lenkeran Region