Tourism: An Increasingly Important Source of Revenue for Armenia

Officials in Yerevan say Armenia will welcome a record-high number of travelers to the small South Caucasus nation this year, with ethnic Armenians from Europe and the United States accounting for the majority of visitors.

The sector, increasingly important for the Armenian economy, expanded considerably in recent years after being declared a top economic priority by the Armenian government. Officials estimate that it now generates about 7 percent of Gross Domestic Product.

According to Mekhak Apresian, head of the tourism department at the Armenian Ministry of Trade and Economic Development, the number of tourists is on course to reach more than 350,000 in 2006, or nearly twice the figure reported in 2003. "I think we will approach the 400,000 mark this year," Apresian told EurasiaNet. The authorities' target of attracting half a million visitors in 2010, set by President Robert Kocharian in July, is therefore "realistic," he said.

There is strong factual and anecdotal evidence in support of this data. Flights to and from Yerevan and local hotels are almost fully booked now, despite the increased cost of travel to Armenia. "There has definitely been growth in this area," said Ani Aslanian, a young and soft-spoken sales manager at Armenia Marriott Hotel, the largest in the country. "There are a lot more people visiting Armenia nowadays."

Aslanian expects to be busy not only in September, the traditional peak period for tourism in Armenia, but also in the coming months. Off-season occupancy rates at the four-star hotel, she explained, are now much higher than they were in the past, with far more people staying there in winter and early spring.

This is certainly good news for the growing number of local travel firms and retailers that cater to foreigners. Travel agents and government officials believe that much of the anticipated growth in tourism will come from those Westerners that have no Armenian roots. "The growth in the number of non-Armenian tourists is faster than that of Diaspora Armenian ones," said Apresian. He added that although the latter still make up about two-thirds of the visitors, their share in the overall influx is slowly but steadily falling.

Spending a holiday in Armenia is becoming increasingly popular among the Diasporans (and Armenian Americans in particular), who are keen to rediscover their ethnic identity. What brings other foreigners, typically aged above 40, is less certain. The landlocked mountainous country has no world-famous beaches, medieval towns or other conventional tourist spots. What Armenia can offer instead are ancient monasteries, underlining its status as the first nation that had adopted Christianity as a state religion in 301 AD.

Marriott's Aslanian regularly deals with groups of mostly middle-aged Americans and Europeans who want to learn more about eastern Christian civilizations, and Armenian history and culture in particular. "These are people who have been to many popular tourist destinations and want to discover something new, something unusual," she said.

This cultural, historical and religious aspect is the main emphasis of tourism development programs approved by the Armenian government each year. One such program adopted in December 2004 called for an "aggressive" promotion of Armenia's image abroad. This approach is reflected in an upcoming visit to Yerevan by a delegation of as many as 160 French travel agents and journalists. The delegation's visit, organized within the context of The Year of Armenia in France, is considered so important that it was an agenda topic during a government cabinet meeting on September 7.

Armenian officials will soon launch an advertising campaign on the US-based cable news outlet, CNN International, to promote Armenia as a travel destination. Apresian, the tourism department chief, insisted that the undisclosed lump sum paid to CNN for the four-month deal will be worth it. "The idea is to present Armenia as a peaceful and secure country which has a rich heritage and is home to hospitable people," he said. "Armenia's [post-Soviet] image abroad has been one of a hot spot, a conflict zone. We have to change it."

But industry executives say promotional campaigns like this will not have desired effects unless the government does more do address weaknesses hampering the sector's development. One of them is a continuing lack of inexpensive lodging, which allows the existing hotels to set prices that are widely seen as disproportionately high for a country like Armenia. Air travel to Armenia is similarly pricey, despite more frequent flight services between Yerevan and major European capitals. The high costs of visiting are hardly an enticement for budget travelers, and luring them in large numbers, analysts say, is vital for the long-term development of the Armenian tourism industry.