Armenia's Economic Pulse

[armnuke]

Re: Armenia's Economic Pulse

Economy ministry expects five percent rise in the number of foreign tourists this year

YEREVAN, June 10. /ARKA/. The number of foreign tourists visiting Armenia is expected to grow by 5 per cent this year, according to Mekhak Apresyan, head of an economy ministry department overseeing tourism industry.

Speaking to a news conference today he said the number of foreign tourists visiting Armenia in the first quarter of this year grew by almost 9 percent to 252,000 people.

"We were registering an annual growth of about 10% for several years, with the exception of last year when their number declined by 1%, largely, due to the dramatic depreciation of the Russian ruble.

However, the flow of Russian tourists to Armenia is restoring. In the first quarter we recorded an increase of almost 10% if compared to the first quarter of 2015," Apresyan said, adding that the bulk of foreign tourists are from the EU countries, Georgia and Iran.

According to him, in the first quarter of 2016 the number of tourists from Iran soared by 40%. He added that despite the latest upsurge in violence in and around Nagorno-Karabakh, the number of tourists did not fall.

According to him, in addition to traditional, historical and cultural tourism, travel agencies are working to boost winter, extreme, gastronomy, wellness, festival and hiking tourisms.

In 2015 Armenia was visited by 1.192 million foreign tourists. -0-

http://arka.am/en/news/tourism/economy_ministry_expects_five_percent_rise_in_the_number_of_foreign_tourists_this_year/

[armnuke]

Re: Armenia's Economic Pulse

yea, cherries and apricots started, the heat waves did not start yet.

[Haykakan]

Re: Armenia's Economic Pulse

I was seeing flocks of tourists even during the 4-Day War. Right now the center of Yerevan is full of tourists.

Yeh this is one of the best times to be there. The apricots should be ready now and not too hot yet. Fall is good to with grapes and other harvests and again cooler temps. I find the summers in Yerevan way too hot!

[armnuke]

Re: Armenia's Economic Pulse

There were tourists who have cancelled their visit to Armenia because
of the April war

June 9 2016

To the question of Aravot.am about the number of tourists reduced
because of the April war, today, at the press conference organized at
the Club of Economic Journalists, the Head of the Union of Incoming
Tour Operators of Armenia, Karine Davoyan said that right after the
war there were tourists who had temporary cancelled their visit to
Armenia. However, Mrs. Davoyan believes that today, the existing
problems in the tourism industry to Armenia are not related to the
April war. The poor roads condition in Armenia, the lack of toilets,
high ticket prices for the buses are number one obstacles for the
development of tourism in our country, said Mrs. Davoyan. In her
words, the tour operators have raised these problems thousands of
times before the ministries of economy and transport and their
responsible persons, but the mentioned problems are not solved in any
way, “The roads are in terrible condition. We already feel
uncomfortable to talk about the toilets, we walk with the tourists for
hours and cannot provide with a toilet.”

Karine Davoyan also said that Armenia, unlike Azerbaijan and Georgia,
is represented to the world very little, “Azerbaijan’s and Georgia’s
ads are always broadcast by CNN, while Armenia – is not. If we say
that tourism is the main direction in our country, we need to spend
money for it.” The Chairman of the Union, referring to high costs of
the tickets, said that it influences on the cost of the tour packages,
“Because of the ticket prices, the package may vary by 200 euros. Very
often it is explained that the plane is half empty in the directions
to and from, but when the plane it full, anyway, the ticket does not
get cheaper.”

Robert Minasyan, Rector of the Armenian Institute of Tourism,
attending the press conference said that the tourism is a highly
sensitive industry, and it quickly responds when there is a problem
with security, “The neighboring Iraq is in war, many people think that
Armenia is also in war.” According to Robert Minasyan, there are 7
billion people in the world, of which one billion is traveling.
According to him, the wishes and requirements of the tourists have
been changed, but we are not walking in tune with them, “We need to
introduce new packages, but there are no new packages. More tourists
travel to Azerbaijan, Georgia rather than to Armenia.”

Lusine BUDAGHYAN
https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2...PrK-ru_6E7Q&e=

I was seeing flocks of tourists even during the 4-Day War. Right now the center of Yerevan is full of tourists.

[Haykakan]

Re: Armenia's Economic Pulse

There were tourists who have cancelled their visit to Armenia because
of the April war

June 9 2016

To the question of Aravot.am about the number of tourists reduced
because of the April war, today, at the press conference organized at
the Club of Economic Journalists, the Head of the Union of Incoming
Tour Operators of Armenia, Karine Davoyan said that right after the
war there were tourists who had temporary cancelled their visit to
Armenia. However, Mrs. Davoyan believes that today, the existing
problems in the tourism industry to Armenia are not related to the
April war. The poor roads condition in Armenia, the lack of toilets,
high ticket prices for the buses are number one obstacles for the
development of tourism in our country, said Mrs. Davoyan. In her
words, the tour operators have raised these problems thousands of
times before the ministries of economy and transport and their
responsible persons, but the mentioned problems are not solved in any
way, “The roads are in terrible condition. We already feel
uncomfortable to talk about the toilets, we walk with the tourists for
hours and cannot provide with a toilet.”

Karine Davoyan also said that Armenia, unlike Azerbaijan and Georgia,
is represented to the world very little, “Azerbaijan’s and Georgia’s
ads are always broadcast by CNN, while Armenia – is not. If we say
that tourism is the main direction in our country, we need to spend
money for it.” The Chairman of the Union, referring to high costs of
the tickets, said that it influences on the cost of the tour packages,
“Because of the ticket prices, the package may vary by 200 euros. Very
often it is explained that the plane is half empty in the directions
to and from, but when the plane it full, anyway, the ticket does not
get cheaper.”

Robert Minasyan, Rector of the Armenian Institute of Tourism,
attending the press conference said that the tourism is a highly
sensitive industry, and it quickly responds when there is a problem
with security, “The neighboring Iraq is in war, many people think that
Armenia is also in war.” According to Robert Minasyan, there are 7
billion people in the world, of which one billion is traveling.
According to him, the wishes and requirements of the tourists have
been changed, but we are not walking in tune with them, “We need to
introduce new packages, but there are no new packages. More tourists
travel to Azerbaijan, Georgia rather than to Armenia.”

Lusine BUDAGHYAN

https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__en.aravot.am_2016_06_09_177567_&d=DQIFaQ&c=clK7kQUTWtAVEOVIgvi0NU5BOUHhpN0H8p7CSfnc_gI&r=LVw5zH6C4LHpVQcGEdVcrQ&m=lkwFspBztORjCnd8w5i1paD0fCdFmskNeS4U_6iOChM&s=qSQzt-kUoHkk9pVyEGYA9vm5ty8mOQN1PrK-ru_6E7Q&e=

[armnuke]

Re: Armenia's Economic Pulse

243,000 ounces of gold per year over the initial five years of operations

http://www.azatutyun.am/content/article/27787067.html

[armnuke]

Re: Armenia's Economic Pulse

That money would be better spent upgrading all of the internet connections in Armenia, upgrading the water pipes/irrigation channels, upgrading the electrical networks, and upgrading waste management, and building e-government software.

Absolutely no need to upgrade the internet in Armenia. It's as fast as most of the western countries.

[Haykakan]

Re: Armenia's Economic Pulse

That is a lot of money but then this would be a great strategic and economic asset for Armenia and Iran. The cost will be shared and it would make sense to have Iran pay for most of it as it is a much richer country.

[Artashes]

Re: Armenia's Economic Pulse

Confusing! Is it a railway, a road or a road for a railway?

At 3.5 (B)illion $$$ I'd say it's RxR tracks and tunnels going through mountains.

[HyeSocialist]

Re: Armenia's Economic Pulse

Confusing! Is it a railway, a road or a road for a railway?

That money would be better spent upgrading all of the internet connections in Armenia, upgrading the water pipes/irrigation channels, upgrading the electrical networks, and upgrading waste management, and building e-government software.