Thursday, February 15 2018 19:06

ArmInfo. The number of tourists  visiting Armenia as a result of 2017, compared with 2016, increased  by 18.7%. The Chairman of the State Committee for Tourism of the  Republic of Armenia Zarmine Zeituntsyan informed about this at a  briefing on February 18. As part of measures to preserve the positive  dynamics, the Armenian government decided to provide the State  Tourism Committee with 49 million AMD to participate in the  Smithsonian FolkLife Festival in Washington.

According to her, as before, in the past year, the most tourists  Armenia received from Russia. Then followed by tourists from Iran,  Western Europe, an interesting growth dynamics was outlined on the  tourist flow from China, Japan, the citizens of the Philippines from  the UAE. Over the year, the State Committee's pages in social  networks collected more than 61 million views.

In 2018, in order to increase the recognition of Armenia, a number of  activities are planned. In the near future a program "Russian trace"  will be presented in St. Petersburg, which will tell about the  Russian heritage in Armenia.

From June 27 to July 4, 2018 in Washington, Armenia will present its  culture. About 4 million visitors, and usually attend an annual  festival, will be able to get acquainted with the cultural values,  crafts, and national cuisine of Armenia.

As for the projects implemented within the RA, as Zeytuntsyan  informed, infrastructure programs are being implemented jointly with  the World Bank. This year it is planned to adopt an amended and  revised version of the law "On Tourism".

The Smithsonian Folklife Festival is an annual international ethnic  festival that has been held every summer since 1967 in Washington,  DC, under the auspices of the Smithsonian Institution. It is devoted  to the cultural heritage of the peoples of the world.

Earlier ArmInfo referring to the Chairman of the State Committee for  Tourism of the RA Zarmine Zeituntsyan informed that according to the  results of 2017 the number of tourists visiting Armenia will exceed  the figure of 1.5 million visitors. Zeytuntsyan noted that according  to official data, 1.172 million tourists visited Armenia during the  reporting period, with an annual growth of 21%. In 2017, the  government allocated only $ 200,000 to develop tourism, in 2018 - the  amount will be increased to $ 400 thousand.

In Armenia, the service sector in 2017 increased volumes by 14.4% -  to 1.4 trillion AMD ($ 3 billion), against the 7.1% growth a year  ago. Only in December the service sector provided growth of 10.1% -  to 142.3 billion AMD ($ 294.5 million). The top five in terms of  services provided is the sphere of catering and tourism - 112 billion  AMD (7.7%), with annual growth of 19.4%.