TOURISM: AN INCREASINGLY IMPORTANT SOURCE OF REVENUE FOR ARMENIA
Emil Danielyan
EurasiaNet, NY
9/14/06
Officials in Yerevan say Armenia will welcome a record-high number
of travelers to the small South Caucasus nation this year, with
ethnic Armenians from Europe and the United States accounting for
the majority of visitors.
The sector, increasingly important for the Armenian economy, expanded
considerably in recent years after being declared a top economic
priority by the Armenian government. Officials estimate that it now
generates about 7 percent of Gross Domestic Product.
According to Mekhak Apresian, head of the tourism department at the
Armenian Ministry of Trade and Economic Development, the number of
tourists is on course to reach more than 350,000 in 2006, or nearly
twice the figure reported in 2003. "I think we will approach the
400,000 mark this year," Apresian told EurasiaNet. The authorities’
target of attracting half a million visitors in 2010, set by President
Robert Kocharian in July, is therefore "realistic," he said.
There is strong factual and anecdotal evidence in support of this
data. Flights to and from Yerevan and local hotels are almost fully
booked now, despite the increased cost of travel to Armenia. "There
has definitely been growth in this area," said Ani Aslanian, a young
and soft-spoken sales manager at Armenia Marriott Hotel, the largest
in the country.
"There are a lot more people visiting Armenia nowadays."
Aslanian expects to be busy not only in September, the traditional
peak period for tourism in Armenia, but also in the coming
months. Off-season occupancy rates at the four-star hotel, she
explained, are now much higher than they were in the past, with far
more people staying there in winter and early spring.
This is certainly good news for the growing number of local travel
firms and retailers that cater to foreigners. Travel agents and
government officials believe that much of the anticipated growth
in tourism will come from those Westerners that have no Armenian
roots. "The growth in the number of non-Armenian tourists is faster
than that of Diaspora Armenian ones," said Apresian. He added that
although the latter still make up about two-thirds of the visitors,
their share in the overall influx is slowly but steadily falling.
Spending a holiday in Armenia is becoming increasingly popular
among the Diasporans (and Armenian Americans in particular), who
are keen to rediscover their ethnic identity. What brings other
foreigners, typically aged above 40, is less certain. The landlocked
mountainous country has no world-famous beaches, medieval towns or
other conventional tourist spots. What Armenia can offer instead are
ancient monasteries, underlining its status as the first nation that
had adopted Christianity as a state religion in 301 AD.
Marriott’s Aslanian regularly deals with groups of mostly middle-aged
Americans and Europeans who want to learn more about eastern Christian
civilizations, and Armenian history and culture in particular. "These
are people who have been to many popular tourist destinations and
want to discover something new, something unusual," she said.
This cultural, historical and religious aspect is the main emphasis
of tourism development programs approved by the Armenian government
each year. One such program adopted in December 2004 called for an
"aggressive" promotion of Armenia’s image abroad. This approach is
reflected in an upcoming visit to Yerevan by a delegation of as many
as 160 French travel agents and journalists. The delegation’s visit,
organized within the context of The Year of Armenia in France,
is considered so important that it was an agenda topic during a
government cabinet meeting on September 7.
Armenian officials will soon launch an advertising campaign on the
US-based cable news outlet, CNN International, to promote Armenia as
a travel destination. Apresian, the tourism department chief, insisted
that the undisclosed lump sum paid to CNN for the four-month deal will
be worth it. "The idea is to present Armenia as a peaceful and secure
country which has a rich heritage and is home to hospitable people,"
he said. "Armenia’s [post-Soviet] image abroad has been one of a hot
spot, a conflict zone. We have to change it."
But industry executives say promotional campaigns like this will
not have desired effects unless the government does more do address
weaknesses hampering the sector’s development. One of them is a
continuing lack of inexpensive lodging, which allows the existing
hotels to set prices that are widely seen as disproportionately high
for a country like Armenia.
Air travel to Armenia is similarly pricey, despite more frequent
flight services between Yerevan and major European capitals. The high
costs of visiting are hardly an enticement for budget travelers,
and luring them in large numbers, analysts say, is vital for the
long-term development of the Armenian tourism industry.
Editor’s Note: Emil Danielyan is a Yerevan-based journalist and
political analyst.