Qualitative changes in Armenia`s tourism industry - minister 

ArmInfo. The year turned out  to be quite good in terms of tourism. There was no quick recovery in tourist flow, as last year, but we are seeing qualitative changes.   This was announced by the Minister of Economy of Armenia Gevorg  Papoyan on December 6 during an event dedicated to the results of  2024 in the sphere of tourism in Armenia. In this regard, he noted  that the geography of tourist destinations has changed significantly. 

If earlier, historically, according to the minister, our tourist flow  depended on one destination, now its share has decreased to 40%. "And  this happened not due to a decrease in the dynamics of this  destination, but due to the growth of other destinations," Papoyan  said.

As an example, he noted that over the past year new tourist  destinations have emerged that were previously unavailable to us, in  particular South Korea, Japan, and China. "Here the indicators are  unsatisfactory and low, and yet we see continued growth in these  areas," the minister noted. Along with this, Papoyan also drew  attention to the still unresolved complex problems. 

In particular, he referred in this regard to the position of certain  partner countries that still mark Armenia's borders with a red line,  which scares away tourists and affects the growth rate. Referring to  various ratings of international organizations, Papoyan noted that  Armenia is a safer country than those states that saw war decades  earlier. "Therefore, we still have a lot of work to do with  international partners to present the attractiveness and  opportunities of our tourism," the head of the department noted.

The minister also mentioned the development of infrastructure, a more  aggressive marketing policy in international markets, the development  of hotel and restaurant complexes and an increase in the frequency of  direct flights as further actions. Speaking about the latter, Papoyan  said that over the past year, more than a dozen new direct flights,  both European and Asian, have been launched. At the same time, he  emphasized that in addition to the continuous increase in new  flights, the department will work to ensure that the latter are  carried out during the daytime, not at night. 

According to the latest data from the Tourism Committee, 1.92 million  tourists visited Armenia in January- October 2024, which is 2% lower  than the figure for the previous year. Traditionally, the lion's  share of tourists who prefer to vacation in Armenia are citizens of  the Russian Federation (43%), followed by tourists from Georgia  (11%), Iran (7%), the USA (3%), India (2%), France (1.4%), China  (1.5%), Germany and Ukraine (1.2% each), the Philippines (1%) and  others.