President of the Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh) Republic Bako Sahakyan on Saturday convened a working consultation in his office to discuss the country’s tourism development potentials.
In a speech at the meeting, Minister of Economy Sergey Shahverdyan delivered a report to introduce the achievements in the sector.
According to a press release by the NKR leader’s press office, Sahakyan highlighted the importance of tourism industries, considering it a pivotal trend in the country’s economy. He described tourism development as an effective means making the country internationally recognizable and helping cement the homeland-Diaspora ties.
At the end of the meeting, the president issued specific instructions towards the implementation of the tasks assigned.
The meeting was attended by NKR Prime Minister Arayik Haroutyunyan and other governemnt officials.
Turkish Tourism Trashed
BY GAREN YEGPARIAN
It is remarkable, almost unbelievable. For the first time in a quarter century of reading the Los Angeles Times and seeing endless advertising flaunting Turkish touristic venues coupled with occasional articles in the paper’s travel section, I noticed a negative item in the February 14 issue titled “Turkey and safety issues.” Of course it is accompanied by a pretty picture of hot air balloons over Cappadocia, just to attenuate the “harshness” of such a piece in what is the paper’s forum for promoting travel to interesting places.
The author, Christopher Reynolds, takes great pains not to come out and explicitly write “don’t go, it’s not safe.” He writes that the State Department is “increasingly nervous,” that Turkey has been a terrorist target in recent months, that “Istanbul… as worldly a city as can be” is 550 miles from the Syrian border – an implicit reference to the instability Turkey has fomented in its neighbor which is now spilling across the border. He is silent about the Kurds and the war being waged by the government against them, except in “code,” contained in the reference to “an increased threat of terrorist attacks” in southeastern turkey.
Reynolds notes the huge numbers of Russian tourists who used to visit Turkey and its beaches until the Russian jet was downed by Turkey in November. The decreasing flow of European, and especially German tourists is not mentioned.
My favorite comment is “before you book that that Turkish trip – or cancel it, consider…”
To anyone paying attention, the very appearance of such an item is screaming “don’t go, you fool!” I’m curious (and hope someone analyzes/counts) what happens to advertising in the LA Times by Turkey’s tourism interests, governmental and private. Will it increase, decrease, or stay the same relative to levels prior to this article?
If Erdoğan’s inclinations penetrate into this realm, then a cutoff of advertising could be forthcoming. That would be great. If it happens, that might be a good time to find a way to get advertising for Turkish Airlines off the City of LA’s buses. Currently, that course of action is stymied by freedom of speech considerations, I’ve been informed. But it seems to me there must be ways of accomplishing that end.
It’s embarrassing to Armenians in the Los Angeles basin to have such a potent, positive presence painting Turkey as a charming place, all courtesy of the people Turks have persecuted and massacred through the ages, and even now.
The decline in tourism dollars is a blow to Turkey’s economy, and we should be doing everything we can to discourage travel there until real progress is made. The promising part of this proposal is the prospect of profit to neighboring countries such as Greece, Cyprus, Lebanon, Israel/Palestine, and even Egypt. People can get the same kind of history, climate, and beaches by going there and avoiding Turkey!
It might be the right time to take up this fight. Perhaps our numerous travel agents could form an ANCA coordinated consortium to promote these alternative destinations, strike a blow for Hai Tahd, and make a buck along the way.
US ambassador: Armenia shall become world-class tourism country
YEREVAN. – Objective of the “My Armenia” project is to see to it that Armenia is recognized on the world map as a world-class tourism country.
US Ambassador Richard Mills stated the aforementioned at Friday’s official launch of this project, which is designed to promote the preservation of Armenian national culture by way of developing cultural tourism in Armenia.
In the ambassador’s words, Armenia has a rich heritage and it is a very hospitable country.
Mills also noted that “My Armenia” is a four-year project with a US$5-million budget, and the full potential of the country will be used to implement this undertaking.
The diplomat stressed that this project can be useful also for Armenia’s economy.
Richard Mills added that another goal of this project is to see to it that the economic benefits of tourism in Armenia are widely spread throughout the country.
The “My Armenia” project is a result of cooperation between the Government of Armenia, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), and the Smithsonian Institution which is well known in the domain of cultural preservation.
Yerevan in top 5 CIS tourism destinations for Russians
Travel.ru tourism service has found out which travel destinations in the CIS countries Russian tourists have preferred so far in the current year.
And accordingly, Yerevan, the capital city of Armenia, is in the top five CIS cities that are most popular for Russian citizens.
And Armenia—with 7 percent—is among the CIS countries that are most-liked by Russian tourists.
The number of Russian citizens’ online reservations for traveling to Armenia has increased by one-third so far in 2015, as compared to the year past.
Russian tourists have spent an average of 3.5 days so far this year in Armenia, and spent US$65 per day in a hotel in the country.
According to the 2015 summer season results, Armenia’s Lake Sevan is in fifth place in terms of the most popular CIS resorts for Russian tourists.
Tourism in Turkey is so Bad Turkish resort municipalities call for delay of school opening over bad tourism season
MUĞLA – Doğan News Agency
DHA photo
The mayors of three Aegean resort towns in Turkey have called on the Education Ministry and Culture Ministry to postpone the reopening of schools by two weeks, in order for the tourism sector to compensate for the losses it has suffered this summer.
The mayors of three districts in Muğla province issued a joint press statement calling for the school year opening date to be postponed by two weeks, in order to incorporate the Eid al-Ahda (Feast of Sacrifice) four-and-a-half-day official holiday.
Bodrum Mayor Mehmet Kocadon from the Republican People’s Party (CHP), Marmaris Mayor Ali Acar from the CHP, and Fethiye Mayor Behçet Saatcı from the Democratic Party (DP), had held a meeting to discuss the tourism situation amid a sharp drop in the number of visitors this season.
Stating that the 2015-2016 school year was due to start on Sept. 14, just one week before the Eid al-Ahda holiday, the three mayors urged the ministries to postpone the opening of schools so that local tourists have more time to travel freely and thus boost the flagging sector.
“We request that the opening of the schools be delayed until after the Eid al-Ahda holiday, believing that this will positively benefit our domestic tourism and economy, offer a partial recovery to the tourism enterprises that have undergone great loses, and allow families to plan their holidays beforehand,” the joint statement read.
The bad economic situation of Russia, the war in neighboring Syria, the recent terror attacks inside Turkey by the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), and the Turkish military’s operations against PKK camps in northern Iraq and within Turkey have all had a negative effect on the income from tourism across the country.
Tourism in Armenia Grows Substantially This Year, Says Head of Tour Agency
The Garni Temple complex, one of Armenia’s many popular tourist destinations
YEREVAN (ARKA)—The number of tourists traveling to Armenia has grown considerably due to new efforts to popularize the country, head of the Armenia Travel +M tour agency, Marina Kprelyan, told journalists at a press conference on Thursday.
According to reports and expert estimates, 256,917 tourists visited in Armenia in the second quarter of this year, a 1.8% increase compared to the same period in 2014.
A wide variety of events, including exhibitions, festivals, Armenian Genocide centennial commemoration events, and the current Pan-Armenian Games have led to the unprecedented growth, according to Kprelyan.
The head of the travel agency did not provided concrete data, but said that the alleged 1 million tourists that Armenia receives each year is not exact number and includes the total number of people who visit Armenia. Not everyone arriving in Armenia is a tourist, she said, and that the calculation should be based on records from airports, hotels, and banks.
Kprelyan also said that Europe, including Germany, Austria, England and France, and Israel, accounted for the highest share of tourist arrivals in Armenia this year. The number of tourists from Japan and the US has also increased, but is still curbed by lack of direct flights, she said.
According to Kprelyan, Armenian tourists most frequently visit the Republic of Georgia, largely due to its geographic proximity to Armenia and low costs. Greece, Spain, and Italy are also popular travel destinations for Armenians, Kprelyan said.
Kprelyan noted that because Armenia is not well known on the world stage, more proactive efforts will be needed to popularize the country.
According to the Republic of Georgia’s Foreign Ministry, 180,099 Armenians traveled to Georgia in July, an 11.9% increase from 2014.
Armenian Ambassador, Egyptian Minister discuss tourism
Armenia’s Ambassador to Egypt Armen Melkonyan met with Egypt’s Tourism Minister Khaled Rami, the press service of Armenian Foreign Ministry reports.
Noting that tourism is one of the priorities of Armenia’s economic development, Ambassador Melkonyan drew the Minister’s attention to Armenia’s potential, current programs and achievements in that sector.
The interlocutors discussed the perspectives of boosting tourism exchanges between the two countries. In this context, they attached importance to the establishment of direct flights between Armenia and Egypt in the near future.
Also, they underscored the considerable role of the Armenian community in Egypt’s public and cultural life.
Armenia, Iran look to benefit from cooperation in tourism
By Sara Khojoyan
ArmeniaNow reporter
Armenia and Iran are going to sign a memorandum on cooperation in the field of tourism. On Thursday Armenia’s government approved the memorandum that will enable both countries to coordinate and promote 
tourist visits between the two countries as well as international tours to both neighboring countries as a package.
The number of Iranian tourists visiting Armenia had been steadily on the rise for years, but the international sanctions against Tehran somewhat reduced the tourist flow to Armenia from the neighboring country in the past three years.
Head of the Department of Tourism at Armenia’s Ministry of Economy Mekhak Apresyan said that already in the first quarter of 2014 the number of Iranian tourists began to rise again, which is due to the reduction of the scale of sanctions against Iran after Hassan Rouhani’s becoming president of the Islamic Republic.
“Iran is an important market for us. This country is not only our neighbor, but we have good neighborly relations with it, which is important for the sphere. Armenia is more accessible and affordable for them and with this new memorandum we will expand and intensify our cooperation in the sector,” said Apresyan.
Another direction of cooperation, according to the official, is to promote the number of regional tourist visits to Armenia-Iran. “By signing this memorandum we will conduct more intensive work in this direction,” he said.
As part of the memorandum the government plans to put exchange of studies and statistics in the related sphere as well as mutual provision of information materials on Armenia’s and Iran’s historical and cultural heritage, traditions, celebrations, nature, etc on a more coordinated basis.
These activities as well as exchanges of upcoming scheduled tourism events, according to industry representatives, will provide an opportunity for mutual promotion of tourism.
By its rate of development and results tourism is one of Armenia’s most dynamically growing sectors that showed growth even in conditions of the global economic crisis when the country’s economy as a whole registered a double-digit decline.
According to the official statistics, in 2013 more than 950,000 tourists visited Armenia, which is by 13.5 percent more than in 2012.
In the first quarter of 2014, which is not the most intensive period of tourist visits, the growth was even higher. Thus, as compared to January-March 2013, Armenia saw a 20.5-percent increase in the number of tourists (more than 150,000).
“There is the potential, and our policy is aimed at getting ensuring the growth of the number of tourists and revenues from their visits that will also create new jobs and thereby will contribute to the country’s economic growth and sustainable development,” said Apresyan, adding that the tourism development concept envisages bringing the number of tourists annually visiting Armenia to 3 million in the next 30 years.
According to the representative of the Ministry of Economy, 98 percent of those who visit Armenia leave the country satisfied, which is due to the efficient cooperation between the State and the private sector.
Tourism expert, Armenian Institute of Tourism Rector Robert Minasyan believes that tourism development in Armenia is possible only after the creation of a special cadastre. Last month at a meeting with reporters he said that such a structure should identify problems in the field of tourism and offer solutions to them on the basis of research.
“One cannot develop the tourism sector with closed eyes. We need to think about creating a cadastre that will examine the amount of means received by the State from travel agencies,” said Minasyan, according to arka.am.