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Dilijan Regional Tourism Development Center Is Opened

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  • Dilijan Regional Tourism Development Center Is Opened

    DILIJAN REGIONAL TOURISM DEVELOPMENT CENTER IS OPENED

    Panorama.am
    16:07 14/11/06

    The Dilijan Regional Tourism Information Center officially opened
    today in the city. The center's development has been supported by
    USAID, in close collaboration with the Dilijan Mayor's Office and the
    Dilijan Tourism Association (DTA). According to the USAID Yerevan
    representative office, the official opening was followed by a tour
    of Dilijan's improved tourist infrastructure.

    The establishment of the Tourism Information Center is a major step
    in implementation of the Dilijan Pilot Project launched by the CAPS
    competitiveness project's tourism cluster strengthening. In March
    2006, Dilijan became the pilot site for USAID's Competitive Armenian
    Private Sector (CAPS) tourism development project.

    Since then CAPS has trained local tourism service providers to improve
    Dilijan as a tourism destination.

    A Tourism Managers of the Future training enriched participants'
    knowledge of tourism, hospitality and management. The Information
    Center Operations program provided training to local tourism businesses
    serving tourists who visit Dilijan. To help market their products and
    services, training program participants from ten local tourism-related
    businesses have designed and published for the first time brochures
    to promote their businesses.

    Dilijan's Pilot Project is also enhancing the physical tourism
    infrastructure. Friendly, multi-lingual Information Center staff will
    provide high quality customer service to local and foreign visitors on
    accommodation, attractions, and other tourist information to make their
    stay in Dilijan more enjoyable. A new bicycle rental enterprise will
    operate for visitors who want to use the newly marked bike path. CAPS
    and the DTA have been placing signs for local attractions and helping
    the city to improve the destination in other ways, such as placing
    trash containers in high-traffic areas. The Information Center will
    also offer Internet access to visitors for a small fee.

    Armen Santrosyan, the Mayor of Dilijan and the President of the Dilijan
    Tourism Association, said, "Because Dilijan takes such great pride
    in its natural beauty, we are very pleased that so many of us have
    come together for the benefit of all parties to make improvements
    which add value to our tourism product."

    Engaging local communities in commonly beneficial projects, CAPS aims
    to promote sustainable, cluster-based (a cluster is all stakeholders
    including hotels, restaurants, tour operators, local governments and
    business associations, for example, in tourism) economic growth by
    demonstrating the value of cluster competitiveness. The Dilijan Pilot
    Project can become a model for other cities to use in implementing
    low-cost, high-impact local tourism development programs to benefit
    all stakeholders.

    "The USAID CAPS mission is to help companies create jobs, increase
    exports and boost revenues through assistance in several areas, for
    example, in customer service, branding, market research, marketing,
    international best practices," said Hayley Alexander, CAPS Project
    Director. "We are working closely with members of the tourism sector to
    help Armenians project their natural hospitality and warmth in a more
    professional service setting. Our focus is on practical interventions
    that we hope can be helpful in making individual businesses, and
    Armenia as a whole, more competitive."

    "Armenia is at an important point in its tourism development. Even
    small numbers of new visitors can have an important positive
    economic impact. We plan both individual firm-level assistance,
    plus cooperation with existing projects in the areas of training and
    education, improvements in the quality of marketing communications,
    including more effective translation, promotional materials and
    Internet presence. We look forward to working together with tourism
    cluster members, and helping them to find new and creative ways to
    realize the tremendous potential of this beautiful and historical
    land," said Mr. Alexander.
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