YEREVAN, AUGUST 1, ARMENPRESS. The statistical data on the number of tourists visiting Armenia in the past years are visible in the streets of Yerevan where one can meet foreigners from different countries of the world.

ARMENPRESS talked to tourists in the Republic Square and adjacent streets, by trying to understand their impressions on Armenia.

17-year-old Risha and Victoria liked Armenia very much, especially the people and fruit here. “We are her for already 7 days, we visited several beautiful sites, old churches. People are very friendly, fruits are very tasty”, they say, adding that they will visit Armenia again, it’s an ideal place for summer vacations. “My mother has already talked to her friends, and we think about visiting Armenia next year during holidays”. Victoria says many people must know about Armenia, but it is necessary to develop tourism for this purpose.

Vladimir, who is from Krasnodar, says he liked Yerevan very much since the air is clean here compared to the cities of Russia. “Armenians are friendly, but also some financial difficulties happen: for instance we visited restaurant in Sevan and we were upset that they cheated us”, he says. “We toured Yerevan, visited Sevan, Garni temple, we are very impressed with the architecture”. Asked whether he knows words in Armenian, he said no. “Many Armenians speak Russian, frankly, I don’t know Armenian words. We mostly communicate in Russian, sometimes also in English”.

A citizen of the Netherlands says she visited many places in Armenia. “Armenia is a beautiful country, I especially like the buildings, churches and nature. This is my first visit, if I have a chance, perhaps I will come back”, she said.

A tourist from Singapore said he arrived in Armenia after visiting Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and Iran, he heard about Armenia in Tehran. “It’s a wonderful country, very friendly. It’s very great that it’s only 8 hours from the Iranian border to Yerevan”.

According to the data of incoming tour-operators, no major changes have taken place in the list of most visited places of Armenia. Both foreign and Armenian tourists mostly prefer visiting Garni, Geghard, Sevan, Tatev, Khor Virap and Noravank. They also visit Tsakhkadzor, Dilijan and etc.

Statistics

685.971 tourists visited Armenia in January-June 2018, which is an increase of over 10% compared to the figure of the same period of the previous year. 1 million 494 thousand 779 tourists visited Armenia in January-December 2017, which is an increase of 18.7% compared to 2016.

Presented by Ani Nazaryan

Edited and translated by Aneta Harutyunyan