10% growth in number of tourists to Armenia expected this
year
11-03-2009 20:00:00 | Armenia | Economy
YEREVAN, MARCH 11, NOYAN TAPAN. By data of the World
Tourism Organization, the average annual growth of tourism in
the world made 4-4.5%, even 6.2% in 2007, but it declined to
3-3.5% in 2008. The Head of the Tourism and Territorial Economic
Development Department of RA Ministry of Economy Mekhak Apresian
said at the March 11 press conference that if the current
conditions in terms of developments in the global economy
remain, the growth of tourism will make 0-1% this year.
In his words, the global crisis will have a negative impact
on Armenia's tourism sector, in particular the indices of
organized (package) tourism will fall this year. Nevertheless,
by his forecast, the number of tourists to Armenia will increase
by 10% this year. The number of Diasporan Armenian tourists
making up 60% of the total number will remain the same.
M. Apresian announced that several measures were developed
jointly with the private sector, which will allow attracting
more tourists to Armenia. The bill on making amendments to the
Law on State Duty has already been submitted to the National
Assembly. The bill proposes establishing different rates of duty
for an entry visa into Armenia.
At the same time M. Apresian underlined that more attention
should be paid to prices of tourist services provided by the
private sector as the state may not reduce these prices. "We
should speak about competitive rather than low prices, while our
policy should be aimed at presenting Armenia as a tourism place
with high-quality services in the international tourism market,"
he said. It was mentioned that in order to achieve competitive
prices, the state should create favorable conditions and ensure
an appropriate investment environment for encouraging
entrepreneurial activity in the sector.