JERMUK TO BECOME HOLIDAY PLACE OF INTERNATIONAL IMPORTANCE

Noyan Tapan
Feb 22, 2010

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 22, NOYAN TAPAN. By the decision of the Armenian
government, the city of Jermuk will become a holiday place
of international importance. Armenian Minister of Economy Nerses
Yeritsian announced this during the February 22 press conference,
adding that a digital three-dimensional model of the city and the
adjacent area will be ready by May. The model will include special
zones of the city and the ways of its infrastructure development. The
cost of studies on tourism opportunities of Jermuk will amount to 200
thousand dollars, some of this sum will be allocated by the government,
the rest – by Jermuk municipality, the minister said.

He said that the delegation headed by him visited Verbier
(Switzerland) on February 8-11 in order to familiarize themselves
with similarities of famous Swiss holday resorts and Jermuk and to
study their experience. The delegation went to local spas and skiing
resorts and became acquainted with work of a garbage-disposal plant.

According to the minister, an agreement was reached with Switzerland
that a 2-3-km cable-way which operated for 10 years will be purchased
for Jermuk from that country. He explained that the cable-way was
dismantled not because it was old but because another infrastructure
will be created in its place.

N. Yeritsian said that they had some apprehension about tourism
development in Jermuk, but it disappeared after they became
acquainted with Swiss experience. "If you make investment in the
correct direction, you will receive a huge profit. Harsh winter
and mountains create problems for us, but for the Swiss, they are an
opportunity to earn billions. It is necessary to take consistent steps
in this direction, and we should move forward not at a snail’s pace,
but we should succeed in attracting considerable investments by means
of a correct strategy," the minister underlined.