Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan today visited the Tourism Committee of the Ministry of Economy of the Republic of Armenia, where he got acquainted with the performance report 2022 of the department.

Deputy Prime Ministers Mher Grigoryan and Tigran Khachatryan, Minister of Economy Vahan Kerobyan, Head of the State Supervision Service Romanos Petrosyan, Deputy Chief of Staff of the Prime Minister Bagrat Badalyan, Deputy Minister of Finance Vahan Sirunyan, Chairman of the Tourism Committee Sisian Boghossian, the leadership of the Committee, other officials participated in the consultation.

The main result indicators of the implemented programs, as well as current and upcoming programs were reported to the Prime Minister. In particular, the works carried out in the direction of the branding of Armenia's tourism strategy, the development of domestic and inbound tourism, cooperation with other countries, regional and international organizations, improving the quality of tourist services, and the "Local Economy and Infrastructure Development Program" of the World Bank were presented.
It was noted that as a result of the activities carried out in the direction of the branding of Armenia's tourism strategy, a new unified tourist brand was developed with the slogan "Armenia, The Hidden Track" (with 4 tourist destinations: cultural, indigenous, adventure and gastro), as a result of which Armenia is posed as an attractive and interesting tourist destination. In the sidelines of the measures implemented in the direction of the development of domestic tourism, an electronic system for the coordination of services by the state within the framework of the social package was introduced and a 30% annual increase in domestic tourism was recorded.

In the direction of the development of inbound tourism, 3 festivals were held in the regions of Armenia, which attracted about 45,000 visitors, 4 international tourist exhibitions with the participation of 30 organizations, familiarization trips to Armenia were carried out with the participation of about 20 tour operators, 10 media representatives and TV companies, 7 articles were printed in famous travel periodicals. The official website www.armenia.travel was launched. In order to promote cooperation with foreign states, regional and international organizations, the 67th regional session of the UNWTO Commission for Europe was held, which was attended by 90 participants from about 40 countries.

As a result of the measures aimed at the improvement the quality of tourist services, training courses were held for hospitality workers and adventure tourism service providers. In the sidelines of the World Bank's "Local Economy and Infrastructure Development Program", the Garni-Lanjazat road was restored, the 600-meter road from the "Symphony of Stones" natural monument to the Khosrov Forest State Reserve was restored, the Areni development concept was developed, and the Goris community heritage center was restored, the right bank of the Vararak River in Goris was restored, the monuments of Dvin were restored and improved. As a result, the infrastructure has been improved resulting in increased touristic visits.

Within the framework of current and upcoming programs, it was reported that the collection and digitization of tourist data, measures aimed at the development of inbound tourism are being carried out.

According to the report, in 2022, the number of tourists visiting Armenia was about 1.67 million, while in 2021 it was 870,000, the increase was 92 percent. Annual growth in domestic tourism was 20 percent, to 1,696,052 in 2022 and 1,430,503 in 2021.

Presenting the goals for the period until 2026, it was noted that 2.5 million tourists are expected to visit annually, development of 20 tourism clusters, restoration of 50 historical and cultural objects.

Reference was made to the legislative reforms planned in the sector, the implementation of control mechanisms of the sector and the development of the strategy.
Works are being carried out in the direction of restoration of 50 historical and cultural objects, development of new tourist routes.

Prime Minister Pashinyan highlighted the programs aimed at the development of both inbound and outbound tourism and emphasized that in restoration works priority should be given to historical and cultural objects with great tourist potential and in dire need of restoration. Nikol Pashinyan added that it is necessary to offer appropriate services to different tourist segments in different directions. "It is necessary to target domestic tourism and encourage tour operators to actively work in this direction as well," said the Prime Minister.

In this regard, it was informed that an exhibition aimed at the development of domestic tourism will be held in May.