ArmInfo. During the May holidays, there was some tourist revival in Armenia, especially from the citizens of the Russian Federation, but it is still too early to talk about a complete recovery of the industry. On May 11, during a press conference, Gayane Ayvazyan, an expert on public relations and digital marketing of the Tourism Committee of the Ministry of Economy of Armenia, expressed a similar opinion.
Ayvazyan also linked such activity from the point of view of tourist flows to the process of vaccination of citizens, which will make it possible in the future to talk about the full opening of the borders.
"Of course, all of this is inspiring, however, according to international forecasts, the full recovery of the sector should be expected after 2023," she said.
In the context of the coronavirus outbreak, according to Gayane Ayvazyan, one should not forget that the habits of tourists have also changed somewhat. If earlier tourists planned their vacation in advance, now it has become more difficult, and decisions are made in a short time. In this regard, she emphasized that the tourism industry of our country should be ready for such challenges, especially considering the fact that today Armenia is one of the few countries which borders are open for tourist visits in the context of the coronavirus pandemic.
The representative of the Committee also announced the next event in the tourist sector, which will be held on May 27 in Yerevan's " Park of Khachkars ". She said that within the framework of the event, a demonstration of the tourism potential of all 10 regions of Armenia, which is mainly focused on the citizens of the Republic of Armenia, will take place. At the same time, she said that extreme tourism will be presented in a separate pavilion. In this regard, Ayvazyan said that today the Tourism Committee of Armenia sets itself the task of rejuvenating tourism, since the average age of foreign guests arriving in Armenia is at least 40 years. Thus, in her words, the direction of extreme tourism was chosen as one of the tools for rejuvenating tourism in Armenia.
"The event is held with the aim of increasing the attractiveness of the tourism potential of our country, primarily for our own citizens, who are now thinking about summer vacations. However, we do not exclude participation in the event and international tourists, who are interested in our country>, she said.
To note, earlier Anush Babayan, Deputy Director of the Department for International Cooperation of the Tourism Committee of Armenia, reported that in January-March of this year, 86,524 tourists visited Armenia, which is 72% less than a year ago. According to her, mainly tourists from Russia, Georgia, Iran and the United States visited the country.
According to the RA Statistical Committee, 375,216 people visited Armenia for tourism purposes in 2020, which is 80.2% less than a year ago. In 2019, the number of tourists in Armenia exceeded 1.8 million, which is 14% more than in 2018. According to forecasts of the Ministry of Economy, 1.2 million tourists will visit Armenia this year.
