TOURISM IN KARABAKH

Azat Artsakh – Republic of Nagorno Karabakh (NKR)
18 June 2004

The unique historical monuments and the magnificent scenery in Karabakh
provide ideal conditions for development of tourism. The advantages of
Karabakh may be enlisted longer but the topic of the article is why the
great potential is not used. The summer season has already started and
it would be desirable if it brought practical changes in the sphere
of tourism. There are about a hundred tourist agencies in Armenia,
which also offer tours in Karabakh. In Karabakh there are 2-3 tourist
agencies. By the way most of their agents have never been to Karabakh
but they successfully organize tours to Karabakh. There are a number of
reasons why the government should be interested that the local tourist
agencies offer their services to the tourists. First, authority. The
company organizing tours to Karabakh takes care for accommodation,
sends guides with the groups, takes care for visas trying to avoid
this if possible, makes up itineraries which are as a rule boring. The
aim is one: gain maximum profit making least expenses. Naturally
the foreigner does not get acquainted with the history and culture of
Karabakh. These itineraries can be considered as anti-advertisement for
Karabakh, which damage the authority of our country and the desire of
tourists to visit Karabakh once again. The professionalism of guides
from Yerevan cannot make up for the absence of real knowledge about
Karabakh that is not taken from books. Through the Internet we receive
opinions on these itineraries, which are not positive. In these cases
no attention is paid to the important fact where the tourist agencies
belong. Second, finance. Each tourist visiting Karabakh spends an
average of 100 US dollars daily. A standard tour in Karabakh lasts
for 3 days. The agency in Karabakh spends means for providing three
conditions as it was already mentioned. Transport is also from
Yerevan. Taxes are paid to the local budget. Naturally the profit
which is not difficult to count also stays out of Karabakh. According
to non-official data, the annual circulation in the sphere of tourism
in Karabakh totals 1 million US dollars 70 percent of which even
geographically does not enter Karabakh. And on the whole one can
have an idea of the size of income from tourism making a tour in the
offices of the tour agencies operating in Yerevan. Third, service.
The group arriving for a tour provides 6 persons with work. The large
mechanism of the sphere of service is operated: cafes, restaurants,
local food, souvenirs, accommodation service, etc. Tourists arriving
with local agencies and even separate persons more often turn to
these services than tourists served by the agencies of Yerevan. The
reasons are many. First, for a Yerevan agency it is difficult to
orient what kind of goods or services the local producer offers,
there are no practical connections and the tourist does not want to
take a risk. Second, there is no wish to spend on something which
is not profitable for the agency. The local tourist agencies view
this from a different viewpoint. Arrangement is made beforehand to
go on a trip to a certain place, and the organizer of the trip is
usually the party that offers services. Naturally, taking into account
competition, they want to make better and more interesting offers for
tourists first of all. Of course, the interests of the tourist agency
are not ignored either. Therefore, there is an additional system of
service which is not present in the above-mentioned itineraries but
brings significant income to everyone. Fourth, transport. The car
is the only transport to Stepanakert. The airport formally operates
but the weather does not enable using helicopters as a stable means
of transport. Transport improves year by year. The private sector
today can offer comfortable minibuses which will take the tourists
from Yerevan to Stepanakert and back in 5-6 hours, as well as trips
in Karabakh. Good knowledge of the local roads will naturally enable
the local drivers arrive in the shortest possible time. Fifth, the
philosophy of itineraries. This differs with Yerevan and Karabakh
tour agencies. Everyone’s aim is one, to make money, the approaches
are different. For Yerevan-based tour agencies which organize trips all
over the territory of Armenia Karabakh, naturally, is not in the first
place. Geographically Karabakh is far from the places which attract
tourists. The trip to Karabakh interests mainly Armenian tourists
who sometimes wish to see Karabakh. For the local agencies trips in
the territory of Karabakh are the only means to earn profit. And
organization of trips in Armenia and abroad are beyond their
abilities yet and will continue to be in the near future. Secondly,
the itineraries for the same route organized by the local agencies
are naturally better and full. The local guides know the history,
traditions, legends of our county betterâ^À¦ And when the first goal
is fulfilled and the group has already arrived, the second task occurs
– to do everything to make the tourist wish to visit Karabakh once
again. And this can be provided by quality service only. In this case
tour agencies of Yerevan cannot keep up with the competition. Sixth,
legal aspects. Till recently anyone in Karabakh could run the business
of tourism. There was no state control therefore the situation in
the sphere can be considered chaotic. After the adoption of the NKR
law “On Licensing” the activity of guides is, according to the law,
to be licensed. Is the government going to control the activity of
the Yerevan tour agencies, as well as the legal and natural persons
occupied with tourism in Karabakh? We turned to the head of the
department of licensing under the NKR Ministry of Development of
Industrial Infrastructures and Building Karen Shahnazarian. According
to him, there is no mechanism for enforcement of the law “On Licensing”
in the sphere of tourism because there is no law regulating the
sphere of business. As to the activity of the Yerevan tour agencies,
according to Karen Shahnazarian, all of them must have the license
of the Republic of Armenia where the places of organizing trips must
be mentioned. However, according to the law in effect the license has
force only in the territory of the republic where it was granted. Why
is the adoption of the bill on tourism delayed? With this question
we turned to the chairman of the committee on education, social
questions and health of the parliament Edward Aghabekian. He said
that the bill is with the committee but the government does not seem
to be interested. They intend discussing the bill in September. It
turns out that the chaotic situation will in the near future remain as
the main law on tourism in Karabakh. It is necessary to adopt the law
without delay. Seventh, the visa. According to the head of the consular
service of the NKR Ministry of Foreign Affairs Youri Zakharian, the
order of visa granting will be changed in favour of the tourists. For
entering Karabakh foreigners must have visa the cost of which is 25 US
dollars. This year already the cost will be reduced. Admitting that
tourists often enter Karabakh without visa Zakharian mentioned that
they try to prevent such cases. Statistics. According to the data of
the NKR Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the number of visitors to Karabakh
increases by 30-40 percent yearly. In 2003 this number totaled 2500
(mainly Armenians) from 70 countries. The number of people arriving
from Armenia and other CIS countries is not known. Hotels. Presently
there are a number of hotels in Karabakh, which correspond to the
international standards: “Lotus”, “Nairi”, “Heghnar”, “Shoushi”. This
sector successfully develops due to private investments. Along with
the hotel business the private sector also develops which practically
provides the whole spectre of hotel services plus the local colouring.

AA. 18-06-2004