Serzh Sargsyan: Visa-free regime with Iran gave a powerful stimulus to the growth of the number of Iranian tourists to Armenia

ArmInfo. The visa-free regime  introduced between Armenia and Iran gave a powerful stimulus to the  growth of the number of Iranian tourists in Armenia. This was stated  by Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan in an interview with the leading  Iranian newspaper "Sharh".

According to the President of the Republic, the Armenian side  attaches importance to the abolition of the visa regime between the  countries, which has a positive impact on the expansion of business  ties, stimulation of economic and investment relations, and the  growth of the tourist flow. "In today's world, bridges need to be  built instead of barriers," Iranian President Hasan Rukhani said. 

, Serzh Sargsyan, quoted his colleague as saying. "In my opinion, the  decision to abolish the visa regime is a new bridge of friendship  between the peoples of our countries," he said.As stated by Serzh  Sargsyan, according to observations, after the abolition of the visa  regime, a sharp increase in the number of Iranian tourists was  registered. At this stage, according to the head of the Armenian  state, tourism products are formed in Armenia, corresponding to the  preferences of the Iranian tourist. At the same time, as the  president noted, Armenia is consistently developing the sphere. 

"We are making serious efforts to increase the attractiveness of our  country for tourists," Sargsyan said. In particular, steps are being  taken to create additional infrastructures, improve the quality of  tourist services, and present the rich historical and cultural  heritage of the Armenian nation. Work is also being done to increase  international flights to Armenia. "Armenia has a representative  culture, a high level of security, its people are hardworking and  hospitable, which is included in the list of competitive advantages  of the republic and in tourism," the head of state said.It should be  noted that Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan will leave for a working  visit to Tehran on August 5 to participate in the inauguration  ceremony of the re- elected Iranian President Hassan Ruhani.

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.