Minister expects Armenia's tourism sector to jump by 319% in 2021
YEREVAN, March 26. /ARKA/. Armenia's tourism sector may grow this year by as much as 319%, Economy Minister Vahan Kerobyan told reporters on Friday.
He said the huge growth is expected from the gigantic decline in 2020. 'This year we have seen some positive signs, like Iranian tourists on the streets of the capital, who have arrived in Armenia to celebrate the Iranian new year Novruz," Kerobyan said, adding that no Iranian tourist had visited Armenia since March 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic.
According to him, many hotels have already been booked for April and tourism is expected to start recovering in May.
According to the National Statistical Committee, the number of foreign tourists visiting Armenia in 2020 slashed to 375,216 from 1,894,377 in 2019. Also, some 346,093 Armenians visited other countries as tourists in 2020, down from 1,867,888 in 2019.
The National Statistical Committee said also the that these figures reflected only the data for January-March 2020, as well as for September, October and December, since from April to August the country was closed to foreigners due to coronavirus pandemic. -0-
