Tourism in Armenia
Most tourists focus their trip in Yerevan, the capital, where the majority of travel agencies, attractions and hotels are located.
Tourists stay at the hotels of those towns in order to engage in extended trips over all Armenia without returning to Yerevan every day.
[11] In July 2019, the chairman of the Central Bank of Armenia, Artur Javadyan, stated that the average spending of tourists had increased by more than 17 per cent from 2013 to 2018 and roughly 300 new hotels opened over the last six years.
[18][19][20] In addition, due to ongoing cultural and education system reforms, thousands of students from India, Iran and Arabic countries started to visit Armenia in order to study in the main universities of Yerevan, especially at the Yerevan State Medical University, promoting further tourism.
For example, Armenia hosted the Plenary meeting of the Euronest Parliamentary Assembly in 2015 as well as ongoing Eastern Partnership and CIS conferences.
In October 2018, Armenia hosted the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie Summit for the first time, where representatives of 54 countries participated.
The event brought together world-class scientists, artists, astronauts, and the general public to celebrate science communication and to share latest discoveries in a number of scientific fields.
Diaspora Armenians from Russia, United States, Lebanon, France and other countries increasingly visited Armenia to see their independent homeland and free Artsakh.
[citation needed] Also many foreigners from Europe and the United States started viewing Armenia as a tourist destination.
[citation needed] In addition, the increasing of visitors of Persians, Kurds and Iranian Azerbaijanis was a new concept for tourism in Armenia.
The general purpose of state tourism policy is to expand tourism's contribution to the national economy's sustainable development and equal territorial economic growth, while also reducing poverty through maintaining high rates of growth in the number of inbound and domestic tourists, enhancing tourism-generated revenue by providing higher-value products and services and generating new job opportunities in the industry.
[31] Effective tourism state policy development and execution, well-established public-private partnerships, and mutually beneficial international and regional cooperation have resulted in tremendous growth in the tourist sector over the previous decade.
This expansion is seen in both the quantity and geographic spread of international tourist visits, as well as investment in hospitality and related infrastructure.
[35] Armenia ranked 94th on the Global Terrorism Index of 2019, better than nearly all Western European and Scandinavian countries (except for Portugal, Switzerland, Norway and Denmark).
Based on the outcomes of the survey aiming to identify the Countries/Areas Most Likely to Feel Safe, Armenia is ranked the 7th on the list of the 18 states appearing in the top positions.
Reconstruction of the previously defunct Syunik Airport near the town of Kapan was completed in December 2020, with flights expected to begin in January 2022.
Owing to the height and rugged landscape, the country has various micro climates, creating perfect circumstances for paragliding.
They organize competitions, paragliding learning courses nowadays and tandem flights with flying season lasting from May to November.
