RA government, NCFA develop tourism

PanARMENIAN.Net - Armenia plans to bring the number of tourists visiting the country to 3mln people per year until 2030 against the current 600,000 inflow. “Hopefully, we will regain the pre-crisis paces of tourism growth (20-25%) in the country in several years. Besides, we expect a dynamic growth in the number of tourists from Iran and other countries, what will be promoted also by Wings of Tatev aerial tramway,” head of the tourism and territorial economic development department at the RA Ministry of Economy Mekhak Apresyan said.

According to him, the number of tourists from Iran made 80,000 people in January-September 2010 against around 40,000 people during the same period in 2009. Every tourist spends $700-800 on an average in Armenia. However, Apresyan believes that this figure will reach minimum $1,000.

Tatev Revival project has attracted attention towards tourism in southern regions of Armenia, which are relatively underdeveloped. “It is necessary to urgently plan the southern corridor, as even uncontrollable processes may hamper development of tourism. To attract investments, we started cooperating with AECOM British company, representatives of which passed through the entire southern corridor last week,” Executive Director of the National Competitiveness Foundation of Armenia (NCFA) Bekor Papazyan said.

According to him, the company will submit а plan for the development of southern tourism corridor of Armenia by the end of 2010 or beginning of 2011.

Vice President of AECOM Christopher Choa noted for his part that tourism development is important in the southern part of Armenia, as in case of success it will attract investments to the region and create job opportunities. Besides, according to him, tourism development provides the government and ordinary people with the opportunity to preserve their heritage. The NCFA will pay GBP 80,000 for the consulting services of AECOM.

Armenian Deputy Minister of Economy Ara Petrosyan said that direct flight between Yerevan and Delhi created the prerequisites, which are needed for boosting bilateral tourist ties between Armenia and India. “Our nations have rich history and culture, what provides with the opportunity to better understand each other and establish tourist ties,” Petrosyan said.

He urged Armenia’s tour operators to offer their clients to travel to India to gradually integrate the Armenian people into the world tourism.

As a part of tourism development strategy, the Armenian government approved introduction of a catalogue for architectural designs of trade and service facilities located at territories adjacent to the state and international roads.