Wednesday, October 18 2017 16:24

ArmInfo. In January-June of  2017, the growth in tourism in Armenia compared to the same period of  the previous year amounted to 24.3%. In general, the number of  visitors to Armenia has grown to 1 million 350 thousand people. This  was announced by the Minister of Economic Development and Investments  of Armenia Suren Karayan on October 18 at a press conference,  speaking about the results of the annual activity of the department  headed by him.

At the same time, according to Karayan, according to the incoming  tourism, the growth was 24.2%, reaching 622.381 people. "The Ministry  for today has not summed up the results for the first 9 months of  this year, but I am confident that in the last quarter the sphere  showed significant growth," -the minister said.

Against the backdrop of growth in tourism services, the head of the  Ministry of Economy noted that the overall indicator of the turnover  of services in the country for 8 months of the current year grew by  12.4%, including wholesale trade increased by 20.8%, and retail trade  turnover by 5.8% %. It is noteworthy that, according to Karayan, high  growth rates are registered in industries that are directly related  to the sphere of tourism. In particular, the hotel business and  public catering increased by 18.8%, the entertainment industry by  15.2%, transport increased by 14.9%.

To develop the tourism sphere, as Suren Karayan recalled, the Concept  of Tourism Development for 2017- 2020 was developed, specifying the  target markets. Mass media representatives and tour operators from  these countries organized over 70 study visits to Armenia, shot 8  presentation films, and demonstrated the tourist potential of the  republic. The Ministry of Economy also developed the "Concept of  Pilgrimage in the First Christian Country". All these measures, as  the head of the department believes, will certainly increase the  tourist attractiveness of Armenia and will ensure further stable  growth of the sphere.

According to the official statistics of TOP-3, the number of entries  to Armenia included citizens of Russia, Georgia and Iran. The second  place was strengthened for the citizens of Georgia, the number of  visits exceeded 151 thousand, with an increase of 11% per annum. Iran  tops the top three. According to the government program, by 2020  Armenia intends to increase the tourist flow to 3 million people.