ORGANIZERS OF INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITIONS NO LONGER TAKE NOTICE OF AZERBAIJAN’S HYSTERIA: HEAD OF NKR GOVERNMENTAL DEPARTMENT FOR TOURISM

ArmInfo
2010-03-01 10:28:00

ArmInfo. "The organizers of international exhibitions no longer take
notice of Azerbaijan’s hysteria. From this point of point, the Italian
exhibition was the most peaceful one we have ever participated in,"
says Sergey Shahverdyan, Head of NKR Governmental Department for
Tourism, when commenting on participation of the Nagorny Karabakh
Republic in BIT 2010, the largest tourism fair in Italy (Milano),
ArmInfo correspondent to Stepanakert reported.

As head of the NKR delegation to BIT, Shahverdyan says that
Azerbaijan’s years-long efforts to hinder NKR’s participation in
international tourism exhibitions have been neutralized and the NKR
has no longer any problems in that area. As regards the exhibition
in Milano, Sergey Shahverdyan says NKR’s pavilion presented the
history and rich cultural heritage of Artsakh. Both the organizers
and the visitors paid great attention to Artsakh’s pavilion. Since
the NKR tourism sector is part of the Armenian one, in Milano Karabakh
represented also Armenia. "Italy is the country where people are well
informed of Armenia and the Armenian people. At certain exhibitions
in abroad we spent time to tell about Nagorny Karabakh, whereas in
Italy we had no such task. Reading the name "Nagorny Karabakh" on
the pavilion, visitors often exclaimed: "Is this the very Nagorny
Karabakh that is so much spoken of?" Italians know the history and
cultural heritage of Artsakh. There were so many visitors that we
were short of the materials prepared for distribution already on the
third day of the exhibition," Shahverdyan says. Practical contacts
have been established due to the exhibition in Milano. In addition,
he highlights that the number of tourists who visited the NKR in 2009
grew 11% versus 2008 thanks to the complex measures taken in that area.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress