Tourism in Armenia Is Becoming More Popular for the International Market: Apresyan (EXCLUSIVE)

• 08.11.2017, 10:52
•  Armenia,  No-politics,  Interview

 

ʺArmediaʺ IAA presents an exclusive interview with Mekhak Apresyan, the First Deputy Chairman of the State Committee for Tourism Management of the Republic of Armenia.

 

- Mr. Apresyan, now it is the hottest period for tourism. How would you assess our tourism rates of this year?

- Official statistics of this year show that there is a pretty dynamic growth in tourism and Armenia is becoming more interesting, popular and desired country for the international market. According to the data for the first half of the year, in comparison with the figures of the previous year of the same period, there is an increase of 24.2%.

 

- In general, which countries’ tourists visit Armenia the most?

- Mostly tourists from Russia, Georgia, Iran and Europe visit Armenia. There is already a strong interest and good dynamics for the tourists from Japan, China, the Philippines, the Arab countries of the Gulf. There is also an interest and a basis for cooperation with South Korea.

 

- Lately a lot has been said about the need to develop domestic tourism as well. What kind of situation do we have here?

- Domestic tourism is also experiencing quite a dynamic growth. Data for the first half of the year will be later released, but according to the data for the first quarter, there is an increase of 20% compared to the same period of last year. Note that external tourism for the first half of the year has also increased by 21%.

 

- What activities are needed in order to develop tourism in Armenia?

- The government's program sets a goal for the next 5 years to increase the number of tourists visiting Armenia up to 3 million a year, and the index of domestic tourism - up to 1.5 million a year. It is necessary to carry out complex measures in this direction, and not just by advertising the country and raising the level of its recognition. Of course, this is very important, but it is not the only thing that should be done.

The first thing, as already noted, is the implementation of effective and targeted marketing policies, including placing emphasis on virtual marketing.

Parallel to the growth in the number of tourists, one should not forget about the quality of service as it is necessary to continuously raise it. It is necessary to establish qualitatively new, high parameters for services and consistently ensure their implementation.

In addition, it is necessary to raise the level of accessibility of the country to the world market. There are two directions here: ensuring transport accessibility, and liberalizing border controls.

It is also important to ensure a proper business environment, so that our services expand, and offers increase. This, in turn, will favor the diversification of the tourism product, and in the demand-supply ratio, indirectly, will promote competitive pricing.