1.2 million international tourists visited Armenia in 2016 - report

PanARMENIAN.Net - With 1,191,910 international tourist arrivals and tourism inbound receipts worth a total of $935.8 million, Armenia jumped five spots to rank the 84th in a new report published by the World Economic Forum.

According to the Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Report 2017, which covers 136 economies across the world, each tourist spent $785.1 on average in Armenia in the reporting period.

In 2016, the travel and tourism industry accounted for the 3.8% of Armenia’s total GDP ($383.1 million), and 40,158 people were involved in the sector, making up the 3.3% of the country’s job market.

The index measures a set of factors and policies such as business environment, safety and security, health and hygiene, human resources and labour market, ICT readiness, prioritization of travel & tourism, international openness, price competitiveness, environmental sustainability, infrastructure, as well as natural and cultural resources.

Neighboring Georgia was placed the 70th, closely followed by Azerbaijan in the 71st position - up 13 spots - while Turkey and Iran come in the 44th and 93rd, respectively.

In the global ranking, Spain, France and Germany were ranked at the top three positions, making them the most tourism-friendly economies.

Traditional strong travel and tourism destinations, including Japan (4th), the United Kingdom (5th), the United States (6th), Australia (7th), Italy (8th), Canada (9th) and Switzerland (10th), have also made it to the top 10.