Armenia has seen the scale of inbound tourism grow this year, which specialists say reflects the process of recovery from the global recession in the world.

“But still one should not expect a sharp rise this year and it is necessary to work harder for the coming years,” says Armenia Hotels Association Director Amalia Stepanyan.

Ani Plaza Hotel Director General Mkrtich Grigoryan also says that as compared with previous years, a more than 20 percent rise is observed so far this year.

“There has been a subjective opinion that there is only an inflow of Iranians. But it isn’t so. True, there is this factor, but it is not only Iranians who account for this growth,” he says.

Deputy chairman of the Armenian Union of Travel Agents Yeghishe Tanashyan says that simultaneously with the growth, the variety of forms of visits has also increased, such as visits of corporate nature, state, official visits, etc. It is expected that so-called historico-cultural tourism, i.e. focusing on a country’s cultural and historical sights, will be more active in 2011-12 as the world sees a greater pace of recovery from the global recession of recent years.

Government officials have urged travel companies to consider the data of relevant surveys to understand what countries their potential customers come from and in what directions they need to develop their work.

The official statistics show that as many 575,000 tourists visited Armenia from abroad in 2009. This figure is expected to surpass 620,000 this year. As per last year’s observations, the highest tourism expenditures come from Japan, Canada, the US and the lowest from Iran and Georgia. Only 20 percent of tourists coming to Armenia visit the country for the first time, and 90 percent of overall visitors are Armenians. Still, 90 percent of Armenians living abroad (of whom there are between 6 and 8 million, according to different estimations) have never visited their home country, which suggests large potential for tourism development in Armenia.

Tourism specialists, meanwhile, see prospects for the sphere’s development largely in state investments and greater cooperation between the state-run and private sectors.

Tour operators single out a number of problems, such as the absence of public conveniences along the highways, the absence of trash cans, the poor condition of the sites of old churches of historical significance.

Tanashyan says that the most pressing concern, however, is the absence of public toilets.

“I reckon that even if we install the most expensive toilets that can serve for 30 years, the benefits from them in 8-10 years will recover the costs and continue to serve as a source of income,” he says.

And Grigoryan says that often tourists who visit Armenia do not want to come here again in the future.

“Once they land and go out into the airport, they immediately get disappointed, beginning from the experience with airport employees, porters and ending with taxi drivers who do not miss an opportunity to make more money on tourists arriving in Armenia,” says Grigoryan.

He says that the tastes and interests in international tourism change very quickly, once every six months, and the task is to keep up with these changing demands.

“As a travel destination Armenia is expensive because it offers cultural tourism for sale, which is expensive all over the world. But there should also be an alternative variant, such as a combination of adventure, entertainment and nature with historical-cultural tourism,” says Grigoryan.

Specialists acknowledge that tourists coming to Armenia often do not get the adequate attitude and service for the money they pay. Amalia Stepanyan links this problem with the lack of skilled professionals and says that in the future special trainings will be organized not only for personnel but also for hotel managers.

By Gayane Mkrtchyan
ArmeniaNow reporter

www.armenianow.com