Yerevan, 14 April, Noyan Tapan. A workshop devoted to IT Solutions for tourism industry was organized on April 14 in Yerevan by the USAID funded Competitive Armenian Private Sector Project. According to Artak Ghazarian, deputy director of CAPS, the aim of the event is to raise the awareness about of new IT products and services applied in the tourism industry. This goal of the workshop is will foster closer cooperation between Armenian Information Technology and Tourism industries, told A.Ghazarian. Today IT solutions have wide application in the world. For instance, in the global travel industry we can see online ticketing, payments and check-in for airline businesses, vehicle tracking systems for car rental companies, hospitality reservation and room management applications for hotels, management solutions for general tourism enterprises, etc, told Ghazarian. According to him, online market of tourism industry reached 125 billion USD, and within coming five years this figure will grow by another 100 billion USD. In A.Ghazarian's opinion, Armenia's tourism enterprises, however, are not developed enough in terms of using IT tools and solutions in their daily operations. According to him, improvement is expected in terms of computer usage in Armenia. According to IT concept, the government projects to increase the number of computer users over the next 9-10 years to reach 70 per cent, 90 ?per cent in educational institutions, and 100 per cent in state and local municipal bodies. It means the demand for the new on-line solutions in the sphere of tourism will grow, told Ghazarian. He mentioned also, that according to the data of the International Telecommunication Union, the number of Internet users in Armenia reached only 6 per cent in 2008. ?With IT having a growing impact on the global travel industry, and with global tourism arrival numbers expected to decline in 2009 due to the financial crisis, the need to be technologically advanced to improve cost-effectiveness and productivity is as important as ever, Zachary Rozga, CAPS international expert in IT solutions for the tourism sector says.

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