TOURISM IN NKR HAS PROSPECTS
Naira Hayrumyan

KarabakhOpen
30-11-2007 18:00:15

Interview of Karabakh-Open.com with the director of Tourism Development
Agency Sergey Shahverdyan

Mr. Shahverdyan, we have learned that the Tourism Development Agency is
likely to hold a conference of tourism specialists of NKR which will
sum up the tourist season in 2007 and discuss the ways of developing
tourism in NKR. Recently the NKR prime minister has said the government
did not have a distinct policy on tourism. There were also opinions
that income from tourism is insignificant in the state budget and
the GDP. What is you evaluation of the potential of this sphere?

In 2006 exports totaled 3 million dollars (Armenia excluding). At the
same time, the export of services (tourism) brought 1 million 250
thousand dollars to the country. In the same year, the government
spent about one million drams, and the Tourism Development Agency
spent about 5 million drams on efforts for development of tourism. The
money spent by the government on support and development of tourism
totaled less than 0.5 percent of the money invested in the country’s
economy by tourists.

In the meantime, the country continued to develop dynamically in 2007.

Additional 130 hotel accommodations were set up. The hotels of
Karabakh can accommodate 422 tourists at once, which is up by 20
percent compared with 2006. The number of tourists to Karabakh has
grown by 10 percent compared with 2006.

The dynamics of development of tourism in 2007 makes worry. For
instance, in 2000-2004 the number of visitors grew by 30 percent
annually, whereas since 2005 the rate of growth has gone down. In
2007 the number of tourists went up by only 10 percent compared with
the past year. The dropping rate of growth of the number of tourists
is evidence to the need for pro-active efforts to attract tourists
and create a favorable image for the country.

One of the main factors for the development of tourism is hotels. What
is the state of hotels in Karabakh?

The hotels in the country are developing dynamically and meet
the demands of tourism. As I already said, in 2007 about 130 new
accommodations were set up, another 150 are expected in 2008. However,
despite the growth of the number of tourists visiting NKR, the
functioning of hotels is only 10 percent.

The low load of tourist hotels makes owners of hotels raise the prices
for services, which is one of the factors hampering the development of
tourism in Karabakh. Besides, low profit does not enable improvement
of service which is not good for the image of the country.

If this tendency persists, hotel business which is now developing
fast may become less attractive for investments. These tendencies
are evidence that the government should make proactive efforts to
develop tourism.

Armenia and Karabakh are said to be "expensive" countries for
tourists. Do you agree to this? What is the role of tourism in the
economic development of the country?

According to the USAID report, every tourist who visited Armenia and
Karabakh in 2007 spent 100 dollars per day on accommodation, food,
transport and other services, souvenirs, etc. During the travel season
in 2007 not less than 1 million 375 thousand dollars was invested in
the economy.

Considering the multiplier effect, this 1 million 375 thousand means
for the economy of Karabakh as much as 2 million dollars.

Besides, tourism is a branch of economy which creates jobs without
special investments. According to the World Tourism Organization,
every 100 tourists visiting a country create at least one job.

In your opinion, what are the main goals that the government should
attain to develop tourism?

Much has been done toward this over the past few years. Legislation
has been created, government policies on tourism are worked out. The
government has declared tourism as one of the priorities of the
country’s development.

In this context, the primary goal of the government is to set the
country to be able to receive guests. This is a multilayer process
which takes immense efforts and coordinated action on behalf of
the government, local government, communities and people working in
tourism. It is necessary to take into account the interests of tourism
in decision making. It is necessary to set up a government agency,
as foreseen by the law, which will have a broad range of powers. If
we solve this problem effectively, soon tourism may become the main
source of income for the country and its citizens.