RA Tourism Committee announces keynote speakers for the UN Global  Conference on Wine Tourism

ArmInfo.In early September, the Armenian capital will host the 8th UN Global Conference on Wine  Tourism.  As reported by the press service of the Tourism Committee,  the keynote speakers will be the Minister of Tourism of Uruguay  Eduardo Sangvenetti, who will share his insights on "Bridging Wine  and Culture:  

Uruguay's Strategic Vision." The conference will also  feature the author and global influencer from Canada, wine journalist  Liz Palmer, and Carolina Fuller, the head of the Hospitality  Department of Catena Zapata (Argentina).  Note: UN Tourism and the  Government of Armenia will organize the 8th UN Tourism Global  Conference on Wine Tourism on 11-13 September in Yerevan, Armenia,  under the theme "Heritage in Every Bottle: Crafting Authentic Wine  Tourism Experiences".

This annual Conference represents a unique opportunity for experts  from across the growing field of wine tourism to work together to  find concrete solutions to make tourism an enabler of the way forward  towards a more sustainable, inclusive and resilient future for  communities.  According to the Tourism Committee, 964 thousand  tourists visited Armenia in January-June 2024, which is 4% lower than  the same period last year. Traditionally, the majority of tourists  who choose to vacation in Armenia are citizens of the Russian  Federation (41%), followed by tourists from Georgia (13%), Iran (7%),  India (3%), the USA (2%), as well as from Ukraine, the Philippines,  Germany, France, and China (1% each).

According to statistics from the RA, Armenia significantly reduced  its wine production volumes in the first half of 2024, dropping by  38.5% annually to 4.4 million liters.  According to the RA Customs  Service, in 2023, Armenia experienced wine a 7% reduction in wine  exports, totaling 4.4 million liters, with a corresponding decrease  in customs value of 2.8% to $18.3 million.  The main sales market for  Armenian wine has traditionally been Russia, with its share  increasing from 78.8% in 2022 to 83.2% in 2023.  Following the Russia  is the United States with a share of 5%, France - 1.6%, Belarus -  1.3%, Lithuania, Italy, Belgium (0.9% each), China (0.8%), Georgia,  Italy, Poland (0.4% each), and the United Kingdom (0.2%). The  remaining volume was supplied to Japan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan,  Greece, Canada, Latvia, Israel, Estonia, Danmark, Germany, Australia,  Emirates, Bulgaria, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Ukraine, and the  Czech Republic. Very small volumes (less than 1,000 liters) were  supplied to Finland, Sweden, Taiwan, Norway, Iceland, Turkey,  Austria, Brazil, Portugal, Spain, Singapore, Cuba, Uruguay, Malta and  Benin.