VIP ARMENIA

A1+
[02:58 pm] 06 July, 2007

It is the first time 42-year-old Dutch Alex has been in Armenia. Before
his visit he hadn’t even heard of Armenian. He only knew the country’s
place on the map.

Alex has already visited a few historical sights and learned a few
Armenian words.

It is a pity that construction work is under way in Armenia. I would
like to learn about Armenia more and enjoy my stay fully," he told A1+.

A visit to Armenia is really an expensive pleasure.

The price of package tour is equal to that of European countries.

According to our data, the average price of tour agencies is $155-1700.

Arayik Vardanyan, the President of the Armenian Tour-operators’
Association they cannot offer tourists new services because of the
damaged roads and current construction works.

"We cannot always take tourists to churches. Armenia has other sights
worth visiting," Arayik Vardanyan told A1+. According to him, the
current situation in Armenia might lead to stagnation and regress
of tourism.

The law on tourism needs amendments, says Arayik Vardanyan. Moreover,
tour agencies should be granted some privileges, i.e. the value on
added tax (VAT) should be lowered, tour-operators should be licensed,
etc.

It is noteworthy that out of 150 tour-operators in Armenia only 40
pay taxes.

The number of hotels is also troublesome. 30-40 hotels are too few
for a country having millions of inhabitants. We cannot host more
tourists because of the lack of hotels.

So far only four hotels have been granted stars – "Golden Palace,"
"Metropol," "Ani" and "Congress," said Mekhak Apresyan, the head of
the RA Ministry of Economy and Trade Tourism Department.

"We can lower the price of package tour to attract more tourists. But
we shall gain nothing. Instead we shall suffer losses. Tourism
should serve national interests," said Mekhak Apresyan, the head of
the department.

In comparison with the 2006 data, the number of tourists to Armenia has
increased by 25 % and over 382 thousand tourists have visited Armenia.