Mekhak Apresyan, Head of the Tourism Department, Ministry of Economy, told reporters on Tuesday that the major task is to improve Armenia’s competitiveness and tourist industry.
“We have a number of problems to resolve – ensuring service quality and human resources,” Mr Apresyan said. One of the tasks is diversifying Armenia’s tourist products.
“Last year, the government approved a program of using caves for tourism. We have the necessary resources to make caves more attractive. In cooperation with local government bodies and the private sector we must spare no effort to develop tourism management,” Mr Apresyan said.
The agency is now discussing important issues with tour operators.
“We also have a task of looking for and developing new markets. We have to diversify markets as well. In mean Iran and China, we have established active cooperation with the countries. We have very good prospects for Iran-Armenia-Georgia cooperation,” Mr Apresyan said.
He points out high importance of cooperating with the Russian market though about 45% of tourists visiting Armenia are Russians.
“We need unconventional measures to intensify our work on the Russian market as we have successful experience,” the official said.