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OUTGOING TOURISM: INDICATION OF PEOPLE'S WELL-BEING OR EXPENSIVENESS OF LOCAL RESORTS?
By Gayane Lazarian
ArmeniaNow
20.07.10 | 09:41
Features
Despite continued government efforts to promote internal tourism,
Armenian holidaymakers still seem to prefer better 'value-for-money'
foreign destinations this holiday season.
Traditionally popular seaside resorts in Turkey and Georgia remain
a more preferred option for many who find the sights and resorts in
Armenia less affordable.
A week of holiday in local resorts like Tsaghkadzor, Dilijan,
Aghveran, Jermuk, Sevan will cost 80,000-200,000 ($220-$500 per
person), depending on hotel.
Taking into account the monthly average wage in Armenia is 104,000
drams (about $280), such prices in domestic resorts makes them
unaffordable for most Armenian families. (Children above age 2 are
usually charged 50 percent.)
"Prices should have been different in Armenia. And if some people may
afford visiting new places, a seaside, and be refreshed, they may go
abroad," says Anahit Papazyan, Director of Levon Travel tourist agency.
Mekhak Apresyan, Head of the Tourism and Regional Economic Development
Department at the Ministry of Economy does not agree that the local
tourism is expensive. He says there places in Armenia where it is
possible to have a rest paying only 6,000-7,000 drams (about $20)
per day for a person. But as a rule, such places are soviet-style
hotels of poor facilities- lack of comfort, without hot water.
Georgia's Black Sea shore and its resorts towns Batumi, Kobuleti,
Ureki are now the most attractive destination for Armenian families,
especially since Yerevan-Batumi railway started running in 2007. The
train ticket price Yerevan-Batumi is about $60 (round trip). Still,
few tour agencies offer tour packages to Georgia, reasoning that
they work with hotels, the prices of which are very high; whereas,
most families prefer to rent apartments in Georgia themselves.
Psychologist Karine Nalchajyan says that family holidays are predicated
on family budget. And when they find out that they can spend the same
amount of money both in Armenia and abroad, they prefer to go abroad.
"Let us not forget that Armenia is a post-Soviet country, and people
here have the Soviet 'syndrome' that they cannot leave for abroad. And
now when there are opportunities, and people can afford it [going
abroad], then their cognitive interest takes them to other countries,"
Nalchajyan says.
Five-member family of Anush Grigoryan, 52, stayed last year in Batumi
for 20 days and spent 814,000 drams (about $2,200 -- $22 per person).
"We rented a three-room apartment, paying 60 Georgian laris (about
$30) per day, and we were spending 15 laris (about $5) on food per
day for each of us," Grigoryan says.
Last year Madlen Harutyunyan, 33, spent her summer holiday in Batumi
with her husband and four-year-old daughter. This year she plans to
leave for Batumi, too.
"It is a more effective rest, useful and less expensive. We were
paying 20 laris (about $10) per night for two of us, and 30 laris
(about $15) for food. We totally spent $550 for 10 days there. And
once we went to Tsaghkadzor, where we paid 24,000 drams (about $64)
per night for two of us," Harutyunyan says.
Aharon Adibekyan, Chairman of Sociometer Social Research Center,
believes that the development of foreign tourism connects with rise of
living standards in Armenia and the awareness of having a comfortable
rest is raised in the public.
"Armenian families get a lot of money from abroad, and people save
some money from that sum for their summer holidays," Adibekyan says.
"The business sector works, many (who got work in recent years)
already renovated their houses, they bought cars, and now they are
also thinking about having a normal and comfortable summer holiday."
Besides Georgia, Armenian tourists go for their summer holidays in
seaside towns of Turkey. Prices in Antalya start from 370,000 drams
(about $1,000) for a person, including a four-star hotel, three times
food, and airplane ticket.
Director of Geographic Travel Club Anna Petrosyan says this year
people's flow to that direction decreased based on political events.
This year tour agencies offer new packages to Armenian tourists to
Tunis, Tunisia. A 14-day tour costs 555,000-592,000 drams (about
$1,500-$1,600) including airplane ticket, visa formation, and three
meals a day.
In 2009, about 526,000 people left Armenia to have a rest abroad;
this index is 1.5-2 percent higher as compared to 2008. According to
the National Statistical Service data, as compared to May, last year,
there was 12.4-percent inflation in the tourism sector of Armenia.
From: A. Papazian
By Gayane Lazarian
ArmeniaNow
20.07.10 | 09:41
Features
Despite continued government efforts to promote internal tourism,
Armenian holidaymakers still seem to prefer better 'value-for-money'
foreign destinations this holiday season.
Traditionally popular seaside resorts in Turkey and Georgia remain
a more preferred option for many who find the sights and resorts in
Armenia less affordable.
A week of holiday in local resorts like Tsaghkadzor, Dilijan,
Aghveran, Jermuk, Sevan will cost 80,000-200,000 ($220-$500 per
person), depending on hotel.
Taking into account the monthly average wage in Armenia is 104,000
drams (about $280), such prices in domestic resorts makes them
unaffordable for most Armenian families. (Children above age 2 are
usually charged 50 percent.)
"Prices should have been different in Armenia. And if some people may
afford visiting new places, a seaside, and be refreshed, they may go
abroad," says Anahit Papazyan, Director of Levon Travel tourist agency.
Mekhak Apresyan, Head of the Tourism and Regional Economic Development
Department at the Ministry of Economy does not agree that the local
tourism is expensive. He says there places in Armenia where it is
possible to have a rest paying only 6,000-7,000 drams (about $20)
per day for a person. But as a rule, such places are soviet-style
hotels of poor facilities- lack of comfort, without hot water.
Georgia's Black Sea shore and its resorts towns Batumi, Kobuleti,
Ureki are now the most attractive destination for Armenian families,
especially since Yerevan-Batumi railway started running in 2007. The
train ticket price Yerevan-Batumi is about $60 (round trip). Still,
few tour agencies offer tour packages to Georgia, reasoning that
they work with hotels, the prices of which are very high; whereas,
most families prefer to rent apartments in Georgia themselves.
Psychologist Karine Nalchajyan says that family holidays are predicated
on family budget. And when they find out that they can spend the same
amount of money both in Armenia and abroad, they prefer to go abroad.
"Let us not forget that Armenia is a post-Soviet country, and people
here have the Soviet 'syndrome' that they cannot leave for abroad. And
now when there are opportunities, and people can afford it [going
abroad], then their cognitive interest takes them to other countries,"
Nalchajyan says.
Five-member family of Anush Grigoryan, 52, stayed last year in Batumi
for 20 days and spent 814,000 drams (about $2,200 -- $22 per person).
"We rented a three-room apartment, paying 60 Georgian laris (about
$30) per day, and we were spending 15 laris (about $5) on food per
day for each of us," Grigoryan says.
Last year Madlen Harutyunyan, 33, spent her summer holiday in Batumi
with her husband and four-year-old daughter. This year she plans to
leave for Batumi, too.
"It is a more effective rest, useful and less expensive. We were
paying 20 laris (about $10) per night for two of us, and 30 laris
(about $15) for food. We totally spent $550 for 10 days there. And
once we went to Tsaghkadzor, where we paid 24,000 drams (about $64)
per night for two of us," Harutyunyan says.
Aharon Adibekyan, Chairman of Sociometer Social Research Center,
believes that the development of foreign tourism connects with rise of
living standards in Armenia and the awareness of having a comfortable
rest is raised in the public.
"Armenian families get a lot of money from abroad, and people save
some money from that sum for their summer holidays," Adibekyan says.
"The business sector works, many (who got work in recent years)
already renovated their houses, they bought cars, and now they are
also thinking about having a normal and comfortable summer holiday."
Besides Georgia, Armenian tourists go for their summer holidays in
seaside towns of Turkey. Prices in Antalya start from 370,000 drams
(about $1,000) for a person, including a four-star hotel, three times
food, and airplane ticket.
Director of Geographic Travel Club Anna Petrosyan says this year
people's flow to that direction decreased based on political events.
This year tour agencies offer new packages to Armenian tourists to
Tunis, Tunisia. A 14-day tour costs 555,000-592,000 drams (about
$1,500-$1,600) including airplane ticket, visa formation, and three
meals a day.
In 2009, about 526,000 people left Armenia to have a rest abroad;
this index is 1.5-2 percent higher as compared to 2008. According to
the National Statistical Service data, as compared to May, last year,
there was 12.4-percent inflation in the tourism sector of Armenia.
From: A. Papazian