FURTHER DEVELOPMENT OF TOURISM IN ARMENIA IRREVERSIBLE
Noyan Tapan
May 30 2006
YEREVAN, MAY 30, NOYAN TAPAN. Over the last seven years, sustainable
growth has been registered in the Armenian tourism sector: in 2000,
only 40 thousand tourists visited Armenia, in 2005 their number
reached 318 thousand, and 370 thousand are forecast to visit Armenia
this year. Deputy Minister of Trade and Economic Development Ara
Petrosian stated this on May 25. In his words, the further development
of tourism in Armenia is irreversible, which in its turn will promote
development of the whole economy. The deputy minister said that each
tourist who stays 4-5 days on average in Armenia spends 800-1,000 USD,
including the price of a plane ticket. In 2006 alone, five 400-room
hotels were built in Armenia, there are currently about 50 hotels
in line with international standards and a great number of tourist
facilities with a total of 4,000 rooms. He underlined that 5-6 years
ago tourist services were much more expensive in Armenia than now,
which is the result of an increase in delivery of tourist services
under conditions of introduction of market mechanisms.
According to him, those visiting Armenia by plane will find themselves
in more comfortable surroundings when a new arrival hall of Zvartnots
Airport is put into operation in late 2006. A. Petrosian considered
decentralization of service delivery from Yerevan to Armenian marzes
as a priority for tourism development in the next 6-7 years.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
