Azerbaijan

It depends on the passport, and the rules are in flux. Azerbaijan operates the ASAN e-visa system for most visitors, and a visa-waiver arrangement currently applies to ordinary passport holders of Saudi Arabia, Oman, Kuwait and Bahrain, while residents of several GCC states can obtain a visa on arrival at Azerbaijani international airports. These arrangements are time-limited, and stays beyond a fortnight require accommodation registration, so please confirm current requirements for your client's nationality and residency with our team before ticketing.

Because it is cool and green exactly when the Gulf is not. While Baku is a year-round city break, the draw in June, July and August is the highlands — Gabala's mountain resorts and cable cars, Nohur Lake, and the craft town of Sheki — which sit at altitude and offer a genuine escape from the Gulf summer, barely three hours' flying from Dubai.

A Baku-based destination management company founded in 2014, handling inbound travel across Azerbaijan, Georgia and Central Asia. They are unusually well set up for this region: they publish a representative office in Dubai, run a sales team dedicated to the GCC, and exhibit at Arabian Travel Market. They also run their own vehicle fleet and handle MICE and group business, including Gulf-originating student and corporate groups.

It varies, and it is worth checking before you quote. Flame Tours' seven-night summer programme includes guide service. Most of their other published tours include private transport with an English-speaking driver but exclude a separate professional guide. If your clients want a full-time guide — or an Arabic-speaking one — tell us and we will confirm availability and cost with Baku in writing.

Yes, and it is one of the region's best-value itineraries. Flame Tours publishes an eight-night Azerbaijan and Georgia programme taking in Baku, Gabala, Sheki, Tbilisi, Kazbegi and Sighnaghi. Because we also represent BeTraveler in Georgia, we can build the two-country trip on a single file with one point of contact and one invoice.

The Absheron peninsula just outside the capital holds the Ateshgah Fire Temple and the perpetually burning hillside of Yanar Dag, while Qobustan adds UNESCO-listed prehistoric rock carvings and a field of mud volcanoes. Inland, Gabala offers cable cars and mountain resorts, and Sheki is known for its Khan's Palace and caravanserai. Winter brings skiing at Shahdag and Tufandag.