Tourism

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Tourism industry in Armenia

Armenia Reports Further Rise In Tourist Arrivals in 2018

Dec 26, 2018, Marine Khachatrian

The number of foreign tourists visiting Armenia has continued to grow this year, reaching a new high of almost 1.3 million in January-September, a senior government official said on Wednesday.

The figure represents a nearly 9 percent increase from the same period in 2017, Hripsime Grigorian, the head of the government’s Tourism Committee, told a news conference.

Grigorian said that Russian nationals continued to account for the largest share of tourist arrivals (41 percent), followed by residents of neighboring Georgia and Iran.

All three countries have sizable Armenian communities, as does the United States. More than 46,000 Americans visited Armenia in the ninth-month period, according to government data publicized by Grigorian.

Earlier this month, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian hailed news reports saying that Armenia is a leading destination for Russians planning to spend their New Year and Christmas holidays abroad. “This is certainly a chance for many Armenian businesspeople to do their share of economic revolution and lay the groundwork for a bigger tourism boom next summer,” he wrote on Facebook.

Grigorian said that the influx of tourists intensified following this spring’s “velvet revolution” which brought Pashinian to power. “We had a particularly high rate of growth in the period from July through October,” said the official.

Official Armenian statistics shows that the number of foreign visitors rose by an average of 9 percent annually between 2012 and 2016. This growth, which accelerated in 2017, appears to have been facilitated by the former Armenian government’s decision in 2013 to liberalize the domestic civil aviation sector.

The average cost of air travel to and from Armenia has fallen considerably since then. The last several years have also seen a major increase in new hotels and guesthouses across the country.

The Armenian authorities unilaterally scrapped visas for citizens of the European Union member states and the U.S. in 2012 and 2014 respectively. An agreement on visa-free travel between Armenia and Iran came into effect in August 2016.

Yerevan also lifted visa restrictions for citizens of Japan, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and several other nations last year. In addition, it allowed Russian citizens to visit Armenia with Russian internal passports.

In Grigorian’s words, the new government is now trying to improve the domestic tourism infrastructure for the same purpose. In particular, she said, several country roads leading to Armenian tourist attractions are now being reconstructed.

Source: https://www.azatutyun.am/a/29677792.html

Tourism numbers in 2011 and projections

YEREVAN, December 14. / ARKA /. A latest study conducted by Ameria consultancy shows that Armenia lags behind Azerbaijan and Georgia in terms of the number of foreign tourists visiting these countries.

The comprehensive study of tourism and hotel services in Armenia was conducted to assess the current situation and the development trends in this segment. The study is an analysis of the macroeconomic condition, hotel sector earnings, their share in the overall GDP, average annual rates of hotel rooms in the South Caucasus region, a comparison of occupancy figures, as well as the prevailing trends.

The results of the study show that in 2011 about 5.2 million people visited the South Caucasus countries on business and other purposes. According to a senior expert in Ameria, Artashes Shaboyan, in 2002 Georgia accounted for 28.8% of the total number of tourists visiting the South Caucasus; in 2011 it accounted already for 54.9 %. In 2002 Azerbaijan accounted for 55.6%, in 2011 its share dropped to 30.4%. Armenia was third, 15.6% in 2002 and 14.7% in 2011.

According to Shaboyan, in 2011 Armenia rose one position in the international ranking of competitiveness of tourism markets to 90th position among 139 countries, compiled by the World Economic Forum. Georgia was on the 73rd position and Azerbaijan on the 83rd.

He said according to a government plan of actions to develop tourism sector adopted back in 2008, the number of foreign tourists is to grow by 9 percent a year to 1.5 million in 2020 and three million in 2030. He said also the government expects the sector to generate $1.35 billion in 2020 and $3 billion in 2030.

Earlier the ministry of economy predicted that the number of foreign tourists visiting Armenia this year would grow to 850,000. According to official data, in the first nine months of 2012 their number reached 603,074, by 9.4 percent more from a year before.

Ameria's study was conducted on the basis of data, provided by Colliers International, HVS Global Hospitality Services, Richard Cancellor and others, as well as on the basis of the results of regional studies conducted by international organizations and the National Statistical Service of Armenia Founded in 1998, Ameria is one of the leading consultancies in Armenia, offering professional administrative, financial and legal consulting. -0-

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Shortage of experts undermines development of tourism in Armenia

eTurboNews Sep 27, 2013

YEREVAN, Armenia - Robert Minasyan, the head of the Armenian Tourism Institute, a branch of the Russian International Tourism Academy, speaking Friday at a news conference dedicated to the World Tourism Day, pointed out the shortage of specialists as one of the factors hobbling development of tourism in Armenia.

`Today the tourism area is badly in need of specialists with new approaches to enhancement of attractiveness of a tourism product that is up to the present tourist demand,' he said adding that especially provinces are in want of such specialists.

Lia Bakhshinyan, the head of the Guild of Armenian Guides, who spoke at the same news conference, said that tourists travel to Armenia to have an active rest and see sites of historic and culture legacy.

Therefore it is necessary to create comfortable conditions for long tourist routes, she said. `First of all, inexpensive three- or four-star hotels with appropriate services should be opened in provinces for accommodating tourists,' she said. `Besides, very often tourists in Armenia have to do without toilets while traveling, since there are no toilets along tourist routs.'

Bakhshinyan also singled out bad roads among factors hampering development of tourism in Armenia.

However, in conclusion, the experts said that it would be wrong to omit some achievement reached in development of tourist infrastructures and the country's tourist capacity.

In June, Armenia ranked fifth among top 10 countries to travel to in 2013, according to Globe Sports portal.

For compiling this rating, a group of professional travelers have captured what's happening on the travel scene focusing on destinations they think will be `hot - or at least should be.' Armenia was rated within a category of `adventurous places for those who are going above and beyond, seeking out the best travel.'

According to the National Statistical Service of Armenia, the country hosted 128,237 tourists in Jan-March 2013 - 22.9% year-on-year growth.

Some 137,128 people have departed from Armenia for the first three months of this year for tourist purposes - 14.2% year-on-year growth. As many as 843,330 tourists visited Armenia in 2012.

http://www.eturbonews.com/38340/shortage-experts-undermines-development-tourism-armenia

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Tourism industry in Karabakh

15 000th tourist of 2012 got an entry visa to Artsakh

19:11, 14 December, 2012

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 14, ARMENPRESS: Today, at the NKR MFA Consular Service, an entry visa was granted to the 15 000th tourist of the year of 2012, 24-year-old Nguyen David Hung, citizen of the Australian state of New South Wales, reports Armenpress referring to NKR presidential press office. In this regard, NKR MFA Chief of Staff Semyon Afiyan handed in a Visitor's Certificate and other memorable gifts to Nguyen David Hung.

According to the NKR MFA Consular Service, for the period of January-November 2012, the number of visitors to Artsakh Republic increased by more than 33 percent, compared to the same period of 2011.

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Artsakh posts 33 % growth of tourist inflow in Jan-Nov

December 14, 2012 - 19:37 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net - Consular Service of Artsakh Republic Ministry of Foreign Affairs granted an entry visa to the 15th thousand tourist of 2012, citizen of the Australian state of New South Wales 24-year-old Nguyen David Hung.

In this respect, NKR MFA Chief of Staff Semyon Afiyan handed a Visitor's Certificate and other memorable gifts to Nguyen David Hung. According to the NKR MFA Consular Service, the number of visitors to the republic increased by more than 33 % in January-November 2012, as compared to the same period of 2011, NKR MFA pres service reported.

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