Despite continued government efforts to promote internal tourism, Armenian holidaymakers still seem to prefer better ‘value-for-money’ foreign destinations this holiday season.

Traditionally popular seaside resorts in Turkey and Georgia remain a more preferred option for many who find the sights and resorts in Armenia less affordable.

A week of holiday in local resorts like Tsaghkadzor, Dilijan, Aghveran, Jermuk, Sevan will cost 80,000-200,000 ($220-$500 per person), depending on hotel.
Taking into account the monthly average wage in Armenia is 104,000 drams (about $280), such prices in domestic resorts makes them unaffordable for most Armenian families. (Children above age 2 are usually charged 50 percent.)

“Prices should have been different in Armenia. And if some people may afford visiting new places, a seaside, and be refreshed, they may go abroad,” says Anahit Papazyan, Director of Levon Travel tourist agency.

Mekhak Apresyan, Head of the Tourism and Regional Economic Development Department at the Ministry of Economy does not agree that the local tourism is expensive. He says there places in Armenia where it is possible to have a rest paying only 6,000-7,000 drams (about $20) per day for a person. But as a rule, such places are soviet-style hotels of poor facilities- lack of comfort, without hot water.

Georgia’s Black Sea shore and its resorts towns Batumi, Kobuleti, Ureki are now the most attractive destination for Armenian families, especially since Yerevan-Batumi railway started running in 2007. The train ticket price Yerevan-Batumi is about $60 (round trip). Still, few tour agencies offer tour packages to Georgia, reasoning that they work with hotels, the prices of which are very high; whereas, most families prefer to rent apartments in Georgia themselves.

Psychologist Karine Nalchajyan says that family holidays are predicated on family budget. And when they find out that they can spend the same amount of money both in Armenia and abroad, they prefer to go abroad.

“Let us not forget that Armenia is a post-Soviet country, and people here have the Soviet ‘syndrome’ that they cannot leave for abroad. And now when there are opportunities, and people can afford it [going abroad], then their cognitive interest takes them to other countries,” Nalchajyan says.

Five-member family of Anush Grigoryan, 52, stayed last year in Batumi for 20 days and spent 814,000 drams (about $2,200 -- $22 per person).

“We rented a three-room apartment, paying 60 Georgian laris (about $30) per day, and we were spending 15 laris (about $5) on food per day for each of us,” Grigoryan says.

Last year Madlen Harutyunyan, 33, spent her summer holiday in Batumi with her husband and four-year-old daughter. This year she plans to leave for Batumi, too.

“It is a more effective rest, useful and less expensive. We were paying 20 laris (about $10) per night for two of us, and 30 laris (about $15) for food. We totally spent $550 for 10 days there. And once we went to Tsaghkadzor, where we paid 24,000 drams (about $64) per night for two of us,” Harutyunyan says.

Aharon Adibekyan, Chairman of Sociometer Social Research Center, believes that the development of foreign tourism connects with rise of living standards in Armenia and the awareness of having a comfortable rest is raised in the public.

“Armenian families get a lot of money from abroad, and people save some money from that sum for their summer holidays,” Adibekyan says. “The business sector works, many (who got work in recent years) already renovated their houses, they bought cars, and now they are also thinking about having a normal and comfortable summer holiday.”

Besides Georgia, Armenian tourists go for their summer holidays in seaside towns of Turkey. Prices in Antalya start from 370,000 drams (about $1,000) for a person, including a four-star hotel, three times food, and airplane ticket.

Director of Geographic Travel Club Anna Petrosyan says this year people’s flow to that direction decreased based on political events. This year tour agencies offer new packages to Armenian tourists to Tunis, Tunisia. A 14-day tour costs 555,000-592,000 drams (about $1,500-$1,600) including airplane ticket, visa formation, and three meals a day.

In 2009, about 526,000 people left Armenia to have a rest abroad; this index is 1.5-2 percent higher as compared to 2008. According to the National Statistical Service data, as compared to May, last year, there was 12.4-percent inflation in the tourism sector of Armenia.