NEW CAMPING SITE TO BE BUILT ON MOUNT ARAGATS IN ARMENIA

ARKA
13 Sept 2007

YEREVAN, September 13. /ARKA/. In near future on one of the flanks
of Aragats mount in Armenia construction work of a new camping site
will start, said Deputy Minister of Trade and Economic Development
Ara Petrosyan in Yerevan, on Thursday.

"The second tourism base for winter sports will become an alternative
to the one operating in Tsakhkadzor camping site," he said.

Petrosyan said that at present projecting is being done, in which
specialists from France participate, and the work on forming relevant
infrastructures on Mount Aragats will start in near future.

In this connection he pointed out that the development program
of Tsakhkadzor as camping site allowed prolonging tourism season
in Armenia.

"Due to this, the number of tourists preferring to go in for downhill
skiing also in winter time has increased," he said.

On February 1, 2007, the RA Government proclaimed Tsakhkadzor a
tourism center. Earlier Ara Petrosyan said that this will allow the
Government and the authorities to use the status of a tourism center
during the bilateral negotiations or implementation of corresponding
programs by international organizations, as well as to demonstrate
the Government’s definite approach to the tourism sphere, which is
announced as a priority in Armenia.

AMD 180mln (about $530ths) was allocated from the state budget in
2007 to develop tourism in Tsakhkadzor.