ArmInfo.On July 7, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Armenia Ararat Mirzoyan, who is in Madrid on a working visit, held a meeting with Secretary-General of the United Nations World Tourism Organization Zurab Pololikashvili.
As the RA MFA reports, the interlocutors emphasized the importance of the implementation of the agreements reached within the framework of the visit of the Secretary-General of the UNWTO to Yerevan at the beginning of June, aimed at expanding cooperation between Armenia and the UNWTO, including through the implementation of joint initiatives and development programs in the field of tourism. Ideas were exchanged on the projects implemented in the field of tourism in Armenia.
The Foreign Minister of Armenia stressed that Armenia attaches great importance to the tourism sector as a foundation for sustainable development and prosperity at the local, national, regional and international levels. In this regard, the Foreign Minister emphasized the support of the UNWTO, especially to the initiatives of Armenia in the direction of innovation, investments, rural and ecotourism development.
As ArmInfo reported earlier, Armenia's Ministry of Economy plans to raise the share of tourist industry in the country's GDP up to 10- 12 per cent. According to the RA Statistical Committee, in 2021, 870,308 tourists visited Armenia, which is 2.4-fold higher than the indicator of a year ago (against a decline of 80.2% in 2020). But even with such growth, it was not possible to restore the pre-Covid level of tourist flow.
Specifically, 350,500 tourists came from Russia (a 2.5-fold increase), 91,100 from Iran (a 5-fold increase), 70,600 from Georgia (a 23.5% increase), 31,600 from the USA (a 5.4-fold increase), 22,300 from Ukraine (a 3.5-fold increase), 17,900 from India (a 6.2- fold increase), 14,300 from France (a 4.9-fold increase), 11,900 from Germany (a 5.7- fold increase), 7,500 from the Netherlands (a 3,600-fold increase), and 7,200 from Belarus (a 3.1-fold increase).
The World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) is the United Nations agency responsible for the promotion of responsible, sustainable and universally accessible tourism. UNWTO's membership includes 160 Member States, 6 Associate Members and over 500 Affiliate Members representing the private sector, educational institutions, tourism associations and local tourism authorities.
, uniting 158 member countries, 6 associated territories, two territories in observer status and more than 500 affiliated organizations. The main tasks of the Organization are to assist international tourism in order to develop the tourism industry of the economy of the member countries and strengthen friendly and cultural ties; the fight against any obstacles to the free international movement of people; collection and subsequent dissemination of technical information on all types of tourism; research work in the field of tourism; coordination of tourism activities on a regional and interregional scale.
