THE TEMPOS OF INCREASE OF TOURISM VISITS TO ARMENIA FOR THE FIRST SEMESTER OF THIS YEAR HAS BEEN PRESERVED

ARMENPRESS
July 24, 2009

YEREVAN, JULY 24, ARMENPRESS: According to expert calculations during
the first semester of this year 207,729 tourists visited Armenia. The
head of the Territorial, Economic Development and Tourism Department
of the RA Economy Ministry Mekhak Apresian told Armenpress that the
data will not probably differ from the official one as well as from
the last year’s indexes – 207,479 with miserable differences.

People mainly from EU states, USA, Iran, Russia, Georgia visit
Armenia. The flow from other CIS states is notably less. According to
M. Apresian the geography of tourism visits to Armenia expands. People
come to Armenia from the states never visited before – Scandinavia,
Thailand, Taiwan China, and Japan.

Last year the first group arrived from Turkey which was rather
impressed. Such a group is also expected this year.

Compared with the world tourism visits, which decreased for 3%
according to the World Tourism Organization, there is no fall
in Armenia, though miserable, nevertheless an increase has been
registered.

Diaspora forms 60% of tourism visits to Armenia. According to the
head of the department the Diaspora has greatly contributed to the
formation of Armenian tourism capital. This year also there is no
sharp decrease of visits from Diaspora in the conditions of the
financial-economic crisis.

M. Apresian conditions the preservation of volumes of tourism
and prevention of the serious fall by the state policy and the
state-private sector cooperation in that sphere.