TOURISM IS NOT FULLY DEVELOPED IN ARMENIA

A1+
[02:13 pm] 11 April, 2007

The number of tourists arriving in Armenia will exceed 400 thousand
by the turn of 2007, Ara Petrosyan, Deputy Minister of Trade and
Economic Development, told a press conference today.

"Tourism has a specific role all over the world. It has its
direct impact on numerous systems, among them poverty curtail,
provision of youth and women with job opportunities, maintenance of
historical-cultural values, etc," the deputy minister says. "Surely,
we still have much to do but we are already on the right way."

In Ara Petrosyan’s words, over 270 million AMD were earmarked to
tourism in 2006. 139 million of the sum was spent to advertise Armenia
via CNN.

250 million AMD will be allotted this year to promote the development
of tourism in the country.

Ara Petrosyan considers that the quality of services has considerably
improved in Armenia, which also enhances tourism.

According to the 2006 statistic data, the main visitors to Armenia
were from Georgia, Russia and the USA. By average calculations,
$52 was spent daily in Armenia.

Nina Hovnanian, Executive Director, Armenian Tourist Development Agency
(ATDA), finds the datum very important for Armenia. "Tourism brings
money to certain strata of the public; flower sellers, restaurants
and taxi drivers earn money via tourism.

It is noteworthy that in Nina Hovnanian claims that Armenian tourism
is not that developed yet but in five years’ time we shall better
the picture.

In reply to A1+’s question which factors the high prices of the hotels
are determined by, the deputy minister answered, "The employment in the
RA hotels annually increases by 20-25 %. Under the given conditions,
no hotel will cut the prices to keep abreast with the times; in case
the employment increases the high prices are justified."

Nina Hovnanyan disagreed with the deputy minister saying, "Provided
more tourists arrive in Armenia, the competition between the hotels
will become tense and the prices will logically decrease."