Tourists from Russia started visiting Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan and Belarus more often

ArmInfo. Tourists from the  Russian Federation show a growing interest in the countries of the  former USSR, Maya Lomidze, CEO of the Association of Tour Operators  of Russia, said at a press conference in Moscow on September 23,  PolitNavigator reports.    

"Judging by the sales of tour operators, we see that the number of  tourists visiting Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia is growing. Belarus  is in the lead though the dynamics is negative as compared with the  previous year due to the high prices," Lomidze said, noting that in  the post-Soviet space it is the Transcaucasia that demonstrates the  most balanced price/quality ratio. She thinks that the increased  demand will result in growth of passenger operations and in reduction  of prices. "The outlook is favorable: the positive dynamics will be  maintained unless air tickets seriously rise in price," Lomidze said. 

Earlier Head of the Tourism Department of the Armenian Economy  Ministry Mekhak Apresyan said that international tourism in Armenia  will grow 5% at year-end 2016. He noted that in Q1 2016 international  tourism in the country grew by 8.6% in Q1 2016. "The positive trend  of inflow of tourists will be mainly determined by diversification of  tourism and is a result of the ministry's work conducted within the  recent several years", he said. 

According to the National Statistical Service of Armenia, in 2015 as  many as 1,256,572 travelers arrived in Armenia (in Jan-Dec 2015 -  1,192,120 travelers, with a 3.2% year-over-year decline), In Q4 2015,  as many as 1,310,164 people left Armenia for tourism purposes (in  Jan-Dec 2015 - 1,187,369 people, with a 1.3% y- o-y decline). In Q1  2016, a total of 1,252,506 tourists (8.6% y-o-y growth) visited  Armenia, while 1,227,499 people left the republic for tourism  purposes (with a 5.9% y-o-y growth).