ARMENIA TO MAKE DEBUT APPEARANCE AT LA TIMES TRAVEL SHOW

Armradio.am
04.02.2010 12:02

For the first time in the history of the Los Angeles Times Travel
and Adventure Show, the Republics of Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh
(Artsakh) will be represented-in the main Exhibition Hall, on-stage
with cultural performances, and with a photo travelogue, the Armenian
American Chamber of Commerce informs.

The tourism offices of Armenia and Karabakh will share a large
"Welcome to Armenia" booth in the Exhibition Hall of the Travel Show,
which organizers estimate will be seen by as many as 50,000 people
over the course of the two-day show.

Armenia’s participation is co-sponsored by the Armenian American
Chamber of Commerce (AACC), located in Glendale, Calif., the Armenian
Tourism Development Agency (ATDA), based in Yerevan, Armenia, and
the Consulate General of the Republic of Armenia, in Los Angeles.

Armenia will also be represented on the "Global Beat Stage" with a
music and dance performance on each day of the show. The Gevorkian
Dance Academy will perform modern and fold dances in traditional
attire, and the Armenian music and dance group Duo Images will perform,
as well.

And there is a "Destination Workshop" featuring a slide show travelogue
about Armenia and Karabakh the first day of the show, Feb.

13.

This slide show, entitled "Welcome to Armenia: Ancient Nation, New
Republic," will be presented by Matthew Karanian and Robert Kurkjian,
the authors of Armenia’s first-ever commercial travel guidebook
dedicated solely to Armenia. The show features spectacular photography
of the people, vistas, and historic sites of Armenia and Karabakh.

In addition to showcasing the beauty of Armenia and Karabakh in
photographs, Karanian and Kurkjian will discuss the current state of
tourism in the two republics and explain some of the logistics of
getting there and getting around. They will also discuss Armenia’s
prospects for developing as an eco-tourism destination. Their guidebook
on Armenia, "The Stone Garden Guide: Armenia and Karabagh," is the
best-selling guide to the country.

"This is a huge event for Armenia, but also especially for Karabakh,"
says Zaven Kazazian, a member of the AACC. "This is a rare opportunity
to showcase Armenians at one of the largest travel shows in the world,"
he said.

Participation in the travel show caps a decade of growth in Armenia’s
tourism market, according to the Armenian Consul General G.

Hovhannissian. "Armenia attaches a special importance to tourism,
and has declared it to be a priority sector for the country’s economic
development," he said. "This is a joint undertaking [by the government
and the private sector] and I am sure the Armenia booth will attract
a lot of visitors," he added.

Approximately 650,000 tourists traveled to Armenia in 2009-a ten-fold
increase over the number who visited just a decade ago. More than a
million visitors are projected to annually travel to Armenia by 2020.

The event is a milestone for the development of tourism in Armenia,
says Nick Hacopian a member of the AACC and the Chair of the committee
that organized Armenia’s participation in the travel show. "This
is the largest travel event in the US, and our presence will help
showcase Armenia to a vast new audience," he said.