Armenia may host as many as 1.9 million foreign tourists in 2022 – Armenian Tourism Federation

YEREVAN, March 22. /ARKA/. Mekhak Apresyan, the head of the Armenian Tourism Federation, told ARKA news agency that there were not yet accurate statistics regarding the number of Russian and Ukrainian citizens, who have been arriving in the country, but according to expert estimates, they are several tens of thousands.

"For many of them Armenia is a transit country. After staying here for a week, two or a few days, they leave for other countries. Many others plan to stay here for at least 2-3 months. Time will show what decision they will make in the future - whether they will stay here as tourists or become migrants," he said.

'Armenia is benefiting both from temporary visits of foreigners and from those who are relocating their businesses here raising the investment activity of the country,' he added.

"The only thing is that in both cases we must be able to react in the right way, to manage these flows correctly and improve all our legislative instruments, if necessary, so that we can both use and benefit from them," he stressed.

According to Apresyan, Armenia's tourism sector as a whole was ready for the influx of such a large number of tourists, and now that many Iranians are arriving to celebrate here Nowruz holiday, the country can host them too.

"But this is a signal to our private sector to be more prepared, attract investments, increase opportunities and develop infrastructure and capacities," he said.

Apresyan believes that Armenia can achieve the 2019 result when 1.9 million foreign tourists visited the country.

"The main thing is that we should be able to take advantage of it. When so many people from different countries come to Armenia, we should show the world how well tourists feel in Armenia today," Apresyan said.

"We must deal also with institutional changes, infrastructure development and marketing in parallel," he said. --0—