NEW HOTEL WITH 124 BEDS OPENS IN YEREVAN WITH PARTICIPATION OF ARMENIAN PRESIDENT
Author: Editor: Eghian Robert

Noyan Tapan News Agency, Armenia
Sept 28 2007

YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 28, NOYAN TAPAN. The Armenia Royal Palace Hotel
opened on September 28 with the participation of the Armenian president
Robert Kocharian. The hotel offers 59 rooms with 124 beds in it. It
belongs to Azat Safarian’s family business.

According to the RA minister of trade and economic development Nerses
Yeritsian, the hotel’s owner submitted a bid for receiving a 4-star
category to the ministry’s commission on hotel qualification.

In his words, demand for hotel rooms is still great in Armenia,
particularly in Yerevan. He said that by late 2007, the new concept
of tourism development will be prepared. It will envisage the annual
number of tourists that Armenia can receive in five years. In the
minister’s opinion, it is realistic for this index to make one million
tourists. He noted that the achievement of this goal will take much
effort of state and private sector in the marketing sector.

The head of the tourism development department of the RA ministry of
trade and economic development Mekhak Apresian said that there are
about 70 hotels with nearly 15 thousand beds in Armenia. According to
official statistics, 181,239 tourists visited Armenia in the first
half of 2007 against 132,937 in the same period of 2006. The number
of tourists in 2006 made 381,136 against 318,563 in 2007.