Armenia will stimulate tourism through liberalization of visa regime.

ArmInfo. Armenia is going to liberalize the visa regime with countries that are promising in terms of increasing the tourist flow.  According to the Prime Minister, in recent months, the number of tourists and air travel has grown dramatically in Armenia. At the same time, Karen Karapetyan noted, there is a need for additional complex activities in the sphere of tourism. In this regard, the head of the government instructed the Armenian Foreign Minister and the chairman of the State Tourism Committee to study the possibility of additional liberalization or simplification of the visa regime for the citizens arriving in Armenia within a month, and to submit proposals to the government apparatus.

In addition, the head of the Main Department of Civil Aviation under the government of Armenia was instructed to develop and submit comprehensive proposals in the direction of expanding the geography and market of air transportation of Armenia, as well as prices for air tickets.The number of visits of foreign citizens to Armenia in the first half of this year exceeded 1.3 million, which is more than the annual indicator by 24.3%. In TOP-3, the number of entries to Armenia included citizens of Russia, Georgia and Iran. At the same time, during the reporting period the number of visits by Russian citizens increased by 33.7% to 241 thousand.

The second place was strengthened for the citizens of Georgia, the number of visits exceeded 151 thousand, with an increase of 11% per annum. And Iran is topping the top three with 89.8 thousand visits, which is 27.4% more than last year. In particular, in the TOP-10 entered also the entrances of US citizens (17.5 thousand), Ukraine (12.7 thousand), the Philippines (10.9 thousand), Germany (7.8 thousand), France (7.6 thousand), India (4.3 thousand .) And Poland (4.3 thousand). As the target markets in terms of attracting tourists, the State Committee considers the Russian Federation, the Islamic Republic of Iran, the countries of the Persian Gulf and Western Europe, with which Armenia has direct flights. According to the government program until 2020, Armenia intends to annually visit about 3 million tourists.