All hotels operating in Azerbaijan are expected to be licensed until 2015, an Azerbaijani official said."Until the First European games, which will be held in Baku in 2015, there should not be any hotels operating without license in Azerbaijan," Culture and Tourism Minister Abulfas Garayev said on December 18."I sign documents related to issuing the license of about three or four hotels and tourist organizations every day. I constantly consider license application documents received directly or on the Internet by the ministry. The situation on the ground is studied, and after about 15 days a decision is made to grant or deny a license," Garayev said.The ministry aims to increase the number of tourism organizations meeting the necessary standards, Garayev said."More than 300 licenses have already been granted in the country for the hotel business," he said.Garayev also said the owners of tourist facilities in Azerbaijan should set prices for their services in accordance with the country's conditions.Lower prices for tourist facilities in Georgia should first of all prompt Azerbaijani owners of the tourist agencies to re-think, he said.Meanwhile, Garayev noted that the slight increase in the prices of services in tourism facilities is connected with the competition due to New Year's Eve.

There are cases in the world where seasonal service fees of the touristic agencies risse during the holidays, Garayev said.

(Azernews)ANN.Az