[PRESS RELEASE] Genocide Tourism – THE “BOOKING-ENGINE” PIPELINE

STEPANAKERT, OCCUPIED ARTSAKH — A single guided package marketed as the “Karabakh: Shusha–Khankendi Tour,” roughly fourteen hours out of Baku, has become the retail face of what Azerbaijan calls the “Great Return.” The towns the listings advertise as “Shusha” and “Khankendi” are the Armenian cities of Shushi and Stepanakert, emptied of their indigenous Armenian population in September 2023. The tour is operated on the ground by Baku Heritage Tours (and a sibling operator marketed as “Smile Azerbaijan Tour”), then distributed across a roster of U.S. and European-based travel companies; the same product, the same itinerary.

On several of these platforms, the customer does not merely book the tour: they earn loyalty currency for taking it. The itineraries are uniform in their silences. They route visitors past the Artsakh State University (Now, the University of Qarabakh) and the, now former,  Republic of Artsakh Parliament building in occupied Stepanakert, through the restored mosques of occupied Shushi, and the final stop, to the iconic Armenian monument “We Are Our Mountains” (Papik–Tatik), which the copy describes only as “regional stone art.” Across the listings, the word “Armenian” does not appear.

Tourism-industry representatives pose below the fortress of occupied Shushi (signed as “Susa”) during a state-sponsored “familiarization” junket. The same sites anchor the day-tour packages now sold by Western booking platforms.

U.S.-BASED COMPANIES

• Expedia Group (Seattle, Washington) — lists the “Shusha, Agdam and Khankendi Historical Tour” as a bookable activity on both its U.S. site and Expedia.co.uk, priced from roughly $119, with customers earning OneKeyCash loyalty rewards for booking a tour through occupied and ethnically cleansed Artsakh. Operator listed as “Smile Azerbaijan Tour.” [1][2]

• Viator (San Francisco, California; “a Tripadvisor company”) — carries multiple versions of the package, including “Shusha and Khankendi Karabakh Cultural Exploration” and “Shusha, Agdam and Khankendi Historical Tour,” flagged as “likely to sell out.” [3]

• Tripadvisor (Needham, Massachusetts) — the world’s largest travel-guidance platform hosts the same Viator products on tripadvisor.com, complete with review counts and “trusted reviews” badges. [3]

• Marriott Bonvoy Tours & Activities (Marriott International, Bethesda, Maryland) — listed the “Karabakh: Shusha–Khankendi Tour” on activities.marriott.com under Marriott’s brand, domain, and Bonvoy points. As of late July 2026, the page appears to have been pulled (returning “page not found” to direct visitors). The activities platform is operated under license by Travel Curious (see below). [4][5]

• AAA — Trip Canvas (American Automobile Association) — the identical “Karabakh: Shusha–Khankendi Tour” appears on the AAA travel marketplace at aaa.com/tripcanvas, likewise powered by Travel Curious. [6]

EUROPEAN-BASED COMPANIES

• GetYourGuide (Berlin, Germany) — the heaviest presence by volume: numerous one-day and two-day products (“From Baku: Shusha, Khankendi & Karabakh Highlights,” “Khankendi & Shusha Karabakh Day Tour,” a two-day Shusha/Aghdam/Khankendi itinerary, and more), several filed under a “Republic of Artsakh” location tag now repurposed to sell tours of its occupation. [7]

• Civitatis (Madrid, Spain) — sells a “Karabakh day trip from Baku” routing through occupied Stepanakert (University of Karabakh, parliament) and Shushi, describing three decades of “silence” and a “spirit of reconstruction.” [8]

• Travel Curious (London, United Kingdom) — the B2B travel-tech operator and tour engine behind the Marriott and AAA activity marketplaces. Two of the “U.S.” storefronts above are, in substance, American consumer brands retailing a London company’s inventory. [5]

• NomadMania (United Kingdom; founder Harry Mitsidis, a British citizen of Greek origin) — the self-styled “world’s largest competitive travel community” has organized repeated group visits to occupied Stepanakert, Shushi, and Fizuli, promoted by Azerbaijani state outlets as “dark tourism.” This is a  members’ club rather than an open storefront, but still a Western-based organizer of these trips. [9]

CHECKED THIS REVIEW — NO DEDICATED PACKAGE CONFIRMED

For accuracy, the following platforms were checked and, as of this review, were found to carry general Baku tours, but no dedicated Shusha/Khankendi (Artsakh) product:

TourRadar (Vienna/Toronto), Klook (Hong Kong), KKday (Taipei), and as of late July 2026 Marriott Bonvoy Tours & Activities (Maryland).

BACKGROUND: THE GROUND BEING SOLD

In September 2023, following a nine-month blockade that cut off food, fuel, and medicine, Azerbaijan forcibly displaced more than 120,000 indigenous Armenians from Artsakh within days; prosecutors formerly with the International Criminal Court have assessed the removal as genocide. Armenian hostages, including former Artsakh leaders, remain held in Baku; at least 80 people have been forcibly disappeared and more than 200 remain missing, uninvestigated. Azerbaijan has renamed Stepanakert as “Khankendi,” Shushi as “Shusha,” and Martakert as “Aghdere”, and has systematically destroyed (and continues to destroy) Armenian sacred and cultural heritage sites. The Azeri state says it has  committed some $14 billion to what it is branding the “Great Return,” which is, in fact, the genocide of the indigenous Armenians of Artsakh. It is this record and reality that the booking engines are packaging as heritage, culture, and “rebirth.” [10][11][12][13]

A sponsored tourism delegation at occupied Akna, “Aghdam”, during one of Baku’s state “familiarization” junkets to seed commercial tourism in the occupied territories.

SOURCES

1. Shusha, Agdam and Khankendi Historical Tour — Expedia (U.S.), with OneKeyCash: expedia.com/…/shusha-agdam-and-khankendi-historical-tour-in-karabakh

2. Shusha travel guide / activities — Expedia.co.uk: expedia.co.uk/Shusha.dx3000390371

3. Shusha and Khankendi Karabakh Cultural Exploration — Viator / Tripadvisor: tripadvisor.com/… (d34053546)

4. Karabakh: Shusha–Khankendi Tour — Marriott Bonvoy Tours & Activities (listing; access now returning “page not found”): activities.marriott.com/…/karabakh_shusha_khankendi_tour-XKP8VG

5. Travel Curious — company / partner profile (operator behind Marriott & AAA activities): travelcuriousgroup.com

6. Karabakh: Shusha–Khankendi Tour — AAA Trip Canvas: aaa.com/tripcanvas/… (403524P18)

7. From Baku: Shusha, Khankendi & Karabakh Highlights — GetYourGuide: getyourguide.com/… (t1233684)

8. Karabakh day trip from Baku — Civitatis: civitatis.com/en/baku/karabakh-day-trip/

9. NomadMania group visits to occupied Artsakh (Azerbaijani state coverage): en.apa.az — “international travelers visited Khankendi”

10. 301.am, “Re-Branding Genocide: Luxury Tourism, Academic Projects & Business Ventures in Occupied Artsakh,” 30 April 2025. 301.am/2025/04/30/rebranding-genocide

11. Leading travel platforms profit from tours of ethnically cleansed Karabakh — CivilNet: civilnet.am/en/news/1011170

12. Marriott Bonvoy accused of “genocide tourism” — The Christian Post: christianpost.com/…/marriott-bonvoy-accused-of-genocide-tourism.html

13. Tours to Karabakh / permit portal and 30% increase — JAMnews: jam-news.net/tours-to-karabakh-tourist-in-ones-own-country/

The Center for Armenian Research and Analysis (CARA) is a trans-national institute that provides investigative, analytic, and informational resources to public and private entities across the Armenian experiential spectrum.