ONLY 10 OF OVER 70 HOTELS IN ARMENIA QUALIFIED
Noyan Tapan
July 24, 2009
YEREVAN, JULY 24, NOYAN TAPAN – ARMENIANS TODAY. There are more
than 70 hotels in Armenia. Several sanatoriums, motels, camps and
tourists’ homes are also available. Head of the Tourism and Territorial
Development Department of RA Ministry of Economy Mekhak Apresian stated
at the July 24 press conference that ten hotels and four tourists’
homes are qualified in the country.
The only 5 star hotel in Armenia is the Golden Palace. There
are several 4, 3 and 1 star hotels. All the qualified hotels are
located in the capital city. Two bids for qualification have been
submitted, including a bid from Gyumri. According to M. Apresian,
the qualification is done on a voluntary basis.
As regards the price policy, M. Apresian noted that the state cannot
exert any influence on the price policy of the private sector. The
market has its say here: if the prices are high, people do not use
these services. It is possible to affect the price policy only in
the order and the cases envisaged by the law on the protection of
economic competition. In the opinion of M. Apresian, the introduction
of the system of hotels’ qualification is a serious mechanism for
regulating prices and exerting an indirect influence to ensure a
favorable atmosphere. This system has just been introduced and its
results will be seen in the coming years. M. Apresian said it will
contribute to investment attraction.