Domestic tourism in Armenia grows by 13 percent in first half

YEREVAN, September 27. / ARKA /. The number of Armenian holidaymakers who preferred taking holidays, short breaks and day trips in their own country surged by 13.2 percent in the first half to 63,963 people, according to a deputy economy minister Ara Petrosian. He said the number of those preferring to spend their vacations abroad increased by 10 percent.

He also said that the number of foreign tourists visiting Armenia sin the first half aw a 5 percent rise from a year before to 281,000 people.

“Yerevan has become one of the most attractive cities today on the international and regional tourist map,’ he said.

Petrosyan added that there are also difficulties and problems, but the tourism industry can not progress overnight.

He stressed in this regard that the development of tourism infrastructure in Armenia is ahead of the human resources, saying Armenian universities must do more to train skilled staff. Armenian economy ministry expects a 10.8% increase in tourist flows this year which will be about 800 thousand tourists.-0-