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Official on ups and downs of Armenia's tourist industry
12:25 - 20.10.13
Mekhak Apresyan, Head of the Department of Tourism, Ministry of
Economy of Armenia, cannot yet report the exact number of tourists
that visited Armenia this summer.
However, his personal monitoring suggests a dynamic increase.
`I can say it is promising. Each year shows a dynamic increase both in
domestic, inbound and outbound tourism. It is realistic for us to
ensure a 10% increase in inbound tourism, a 7% to 10% increase in
domestic tourism and an increase of about 10% in outbound tourism,' Mr
Apresyan told Tert.am.
He does not think that, in contrast to the neighboring states,
Armenia's tourist industry shows a low- rate increase. Armenia is `too
young' in terms of tourism development as it was not until 1996 that
tourism development was on the agenda as Armenia was unable to host
tourists before for well-known reasons.
`It was not until 1996-1997 that we started thinking of tourism. In
1997, Armenia joined the World Tourism Organization and drew up a
relevant agenda. In 2000 we started keeping statistics on tourism -
45,000 tourists visited Armenia during that year,' Mr Apresyan said.
`A more than 18-fold increase in just 12 years. In 2000, we had only
three or four hotels that could receive tourists, with all of them
located in Yerevan. Now we have 250 to 300 hotels, besides holiday
centers, with 60 percent of them located in Armenia's regions. This is
real progress. Tourist industry in Armenia's individual communities,
new jobs,' he said.
The right tourism promotion policy is the result of coordinated
efforts by all the interested sides.
With respect to the tourist industry's problems, Mr Apresyan said:
`Although we have a more or less developed infrastructure and other
achievements, we need further infrastructure development. Of course,
we have made progress in the recent ten years. On the other hand, we
cannot say that we have perfect roads, especially country roads,' he
said.
Armenian News - Tert.am
12:25 - 20.10.13
Mekhak Apresyan, Head of the Department of Tourism, Ministry of
Economy of Armenia, cannot yet report the exact number of tourists
that visited Armenia this summer.
However, his personal monitoring suggests a dynamic increase.
`I can say it is promising. Each year shows a dynamic increase both in
domestic, inbound and outbound tourism. It is realistic for us to
ensure a 10% increase in inbound tourism, a 7% to 10% increase in
domestic tourism and an increase of about 10% in outbound tourism,' Mr
Apresyan told Tert.am.
He does not think that, in contrast to the neighboring states,
Armenia's tourist industry shows a low- rate increase. Armenia is `too
young' in terms of tourism development as it was not until 1996 that
tourism development was on the agenda as Armenia was unable to host
tourists before for well-known reasons.
`It was not until 1996-1997 that we started thinking of tourism. In
1997, Armenia joined the World Tourism Organization and drew up a
relevant agenda. In 2000 we started keeping statistics on tourism -
45,000 tourists visited Armenia during that year,' Mr Apresyan said.
`A more than 18-fold increase in just 12 years. In 2000, we had only
three or four hotels that could receive tourists, with all of them
located in Yerevan. Now we have 250 to 300 hotels, besides holiday
centers, with 60 percent of them located in Armenia's regions. This is
real progress. Tourist industry in Armenia's individual communities,
new jobs,' he said.
The right tourism promotion policy is the result of coordinated
efforts by all the interested sides.
With respect to the tourist industry's problems, Mr Apresyan said:
`Although we have a more or less developed infrastructure and other
achievements, we need further infrastructure development. Of course,
we have made progress in the recent ten years. On the other hand, we
cannot say that we have perfect roads, especially country roads,' he
said.
Armenian News - Tert.am