| The number of tourists, visiting Armenia per year, will increase by 18-20% and amount to 370,000-380,000 by the end, 2006, as compared with the data of the same period in 2005, Ara Petrosian, RA deputy minister of trade and economic development, said at a press conference.
He said that 272,000 tourists have visited the country for Jan-Sep, 2006, against 230,000 for the same period in 2005. Petrosian noted the inflow of tourists within the next 4-5 years will grow by 20-25%. Meanwhile, according to Petrosian forecasts, 500,000 tourists will visit Armenia in already 2-3 years. He said that activation of the inner tourism for the last years is conditioned by several factors, in particular, the development of tourism infrastructures, increase of the level of services, rendered to the tourists. From this viewpoint, Petrosian noted that if there were 2 hotels with international standards in the country 7-8 years ago, this indicator grew to 20, at present.
Besdies, he informed that 5 new hotel objects have opened in Armenia within this year, in particular, in Yerevan, as well as in such towns as Goris, Tsakhkadzor and Sevan. Moreover, Information Center for Tourism functions in Dilijan since November 14 within the framework of the USAID program “Competitive Armenian Private Sector”. A. Petrosian underlined that correct presentation of the country’s tourist potential in the international market by means of participation in tourist exhibitions, advertising also contributes to the development of Armenia’s home tourism. He emphasized that the American CNN is broadcasting the country’s tourism by means of 2 advertising spots since September 2006
News Source: AZG Daily |
Akgün Medya