YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 11, ARMENPRESS. The recent domestic political events, the peaceful revolution in Armenia have greatly contributed to the increase of the international awareness about the country, Mekhak Apresyan – Chairman of the Armenian Tourism Federation, told a press conference in ARMENPRESS.

“The revolutionary processes, the peaceful rallies greatly contributed to raising awareness on Armenia. Now it is necessary to capitalize this resource and use effectively, ensure sustainable tourism by contributing to the economic development”, he said, adding that this must lead to the effective management of the dynamic growth of tourism in Armenia.

Mekhak Apresyan noted that, however, they must not forget about constantly increasing the service quality in line with these positive developments. “We should not allow that tourist leaves our country disappointed. Quite the contrary, we need to create conditions so that tourist will leave Armenia satisfied”, he said.

The incoming tourist visits to Armenia in 2018 comprised 1 million 651 thousand which is an increase of 10.5% compared to 2017. Apresyan said that Georgia and Russia lead in terms of the tourist visits to Armenia. Increase in number of tourists is also noticed from the European countries. There is great interest to Armenia from China and the Arab countries.

Edited and translated by Aneta Harutyunyan