TOURISM DEVELOPS IN NKR
Noyan Tapan
May 30 2006
YEREVAN, MAY 30, NOYAN TAPAN. There are 10 hotels with a total
of 400 beds in the cities of Stepanakert and Shushi, head of the
tourism unit of the company Asbar (NKR) David Ishkhanian told
NT correspondent. According to him, another 4 hotels will be put
into operation in Mardakert, Gandzasar, Hadrut and Martuni within
a year. He said that over the last 2-3 years, the annual number of
tourists to the NKR has made 7-8 thousand, whereas 3 thousand tourists
visited the republic in 2000. 85-90% of those visiting Karabakh
are ethnic Armenians. 10% of tourists to Armenia visit Karabakh as
well. D. Ishkhanian noted that the NKR is presented as a country of
tourism abroad both through participation of tourist companies in
various exhibitions and activities of NKR’s representative offices
in Russia, Australia, France, the US and Lebanon.
According to him, Asbar and NKR’s Tourism Development Agency on May
11-14 took part in an international tourism exhibition in Moscow
where they had their own pavilion “Nagorno Karabakh Republic”. The
Azerbaijani embassy in Russia sent a note of protest to the Russian
Ministry of Foreign Affairs demanding that the pavilion’s name be
changed but to no avail. It is for the third time that the Armenian
embassy in Lebanon has assisted the NKR with participation in an
international exhibition of the Arab world tourism in Beirut. The
NKR tourism sector was presented at the pavilion ” Nagorno Karabakh
Republic” there too.