AZG Armenian Daily #107, 11/06/2005
Tourism
TSAKHKADZOR – INTERNATIONAL TOURIST RESORT?
On June 9, the government of Armenia drew up a project of making Tsakhkadzor
an international tourism center by the year of 2007. Ara Petrosian, deputy
minister of trade and economic development, told a press conference that the
project will cost 1.6 billion AMD. It is envisaged that international
organizations and the private sector will allocate additional 70 million
AMD.
The deputy minister emphasized that the new cable railway made the project
possible. This meant that all infrastructures will be built around the cable
railway. Ara Petrosian thinks that the main aim of the project is to spur
visits to the resort and Armenia as a whole. He assured that the number of
tourists will grow by 10 percent reaching 20-25 thousand.
The second important aim is to prolong the tourist season in Armenia. Today,
Armenia is known to the international market as a country of spring, summer
and autumn tourism season. Once Tsakhkadzor is developed, Armenia will
become all-the-year-round tourism country. Besides the historic and cultural
tourism, the sports tourism will develop as well.
The project also looks to boosting inner tourism and develop business in
that region. The deputy minister said that they will launch ad campaign on
CNN, BBC, Euro News and others. Negotiations with the World Tourism
Organization are under way to arrange advertising.
Answering a question about the number of tourists visiting Armenia, Ara
Petrosian said that last year the country hosted 260.000 tourists. He noted
that it is the WTO that defines whether the traveler is tourist or not.
According to that definition, regardless a person’s visit aim, he is
considered a tourist if travels within certain time frame, stays at hotel
and does not get employed for the time being. If he stays longer than his
planned schedule, then he is not a tourist. This is the definition by which
officials count tourists arriving in Armenia.
By Ara Martirosian