Wednesday, July 19 2017 19:06

ArmInfo. Armenia intends to  develop wine tourism within the framework of the Silk Road. On June  19, Deputy Minister of Economic Development and Investments of the  Ministry of Economic Development and Investments Mekhak Apresyan  stated during the press conference that Armenia initiated this  initiative during the next event of the UN World Tourism  Organization.

According to him, the proposal was approved and a number of  participants expressed interest in the implementation of this  initiative, including the member countries of the Organization of the  Black Sea Economic Cooperation and the Silk Road.

Apresyan noted that the strategy of the formation and development of  tourism products will be jointly with the UN World Tourism  Organization. "However, the promotion of the initiative is entirely  the responsibility of Armenia," he stressed.

To date, he said, negotiations are under way with the partners from  the Smithsonian Institution in the framework of the My Armenia  program regarding the strategy for the development of the concept.

Meanwhile, according to economic experts of ArmInfo, the concept of  the development of wine tourism for Armenia is similar, for example,  to the idea of opening a seaworthy school in the country without  access to the sea and smacks of open provincialism, distinguished by  a narrow outlook and a lack of erudition, which threatens the  international image of the country, to ridicule. In the opinion of  observers, it is time for the Armenian tour agency to develop its own  marketing platform and not engage in frank and illiterate plagiarism.  The idea to turn Armenia into a world center of religious tourism is  also a lame approach. Not because there are few ancient monasteries  and churches in Armenia, but because there are, in fact, no centers  for world religious pilgrimage.