10% growth in number of tourists to Armenia expected this year
YEREVAN, MARCH 11, NOYAN TAPAN. By data of the World Tourism
Organization, the average annual growth of tourism in the world made
4-4.5%, even 6.2% in 2007, but it declined to 3-3.5% in 2008. The Head
of the Tourism and Territorial Economic Development Department of RA
Ministry of Economy Mekhak Apresian said at the March 11 press
conference that if the current conditions in terms of developments in
the global economy remain, the growth of tourism will make 0-1% this
year.
In his words, the global crisis will have a negative impact on
Armenia’s tourism sector, in particular the indices of organized
(package) tourism will fall this year. Nevertheless, by his forecast,
the number of tourists to Armenia will increase by 10% this year. The
number of Diasporan Armenian tourists making up 60% of the total number
will remain the same.
M. Apresian announced that several measures were developed jointly with
the private sector, which will allow attracting more tourists to
Armenia. The bill on making amendments to the Law on State Duty has
already been submitted to the National Assembly. The bill proposes
establishing different rates of duty for an entry visa into Armenia.
At the same time M. Apresian underlined that more attention should be
paid to prices of tourist services provided by the private sector as
the state may not reduce these prices. "We should speak about
competitive rather than low prices, while our policy should be aimed at
presenting Armenia as a tourism place with high-quality services in the
international tourism market," he said. It was mentioned that in order
to achieve competitive prices, the state should create favorable
conditions and ensure an appropriate investment environment for
encouraging entrepreneurial activity in the sector.