The article is published in cooperation with the «Orbeli» Center and the Iran Daily newspaper.

I n the first half of 2023, Armenia was visited by nearly 1 mil. tourists, which exceeds the historically highest result of the comparable period of 2019 by about 30%. In Armenia, as well as all over the world, among the most affected fields by the coronavirus pandemic was tourism, which was not only fully restored, but also stands for record scores. Following the pandemic, the war and other regional developments, in 2023, all prerequisites were created to reach and even surpass the 2019 indicator. Actually, Armenia changes its current positioning in the global tourism market and aspires to become a tourism hub of the region, for which it tries to create prerequisites by providing diverse offers. On the one hand, Armenia attracts tourists from the point of view of cultural, entertainment, adventure, medical, nature and tourism, on the other hand due to the fact of being a transit zone. In fact, one of the most important prerequisites for the tourism development is the presence of developed infrastructure, the availability and quality of services, for the provision of which active works are currently carried out, such as through modernization of the transport network, the introduction of new routes from airports, etc.  Private tourism companies, in turn, offer diversified inbound packages, not only in the capital, but also throughout the country. The main destinations are Gyumri, as a colorful and cultural city, Jermuk as a resort destination, Garni-Geghard with historical and cultural places, Syunik and Dilijan with beautiful nature, Yenokavan for extreme leisure lovers, Tsakhkadzor for winter sports, etc., and all of these are united by an important component of gastrotourism, which will please any demanding tourist. The culture of festivals, such as wine days, work-shops (especially in rural areas) has also started to develop in Armenia.  

Actually, Russian-Ukrainian conflict has changed long established air routes, creating new opportunities for other countries, including Armenia. Particularly, currently more than 4 dozen airlines operate flights from Armenia to various destinations both to Europe and to Asia. Especially, following the Russian-Ukrainian war, both the destinations and the intensity of the flights increased. Moreover, in the last few years, there is a lot of activity in the market, both with the increase of national airlines and the entry of European budget airlines. This, in turn, contributed to the increase in the offer of budget tickets and diversity of destinations, used not only by Armenians, but also by the countries of the region, citizens of Russian, Ukraine and other countries. Thus, due to geopolitical developments, the entry of national air carriers and budget airlines, Armenia has also begun to be considered as a transport transit destination. Emphasizing the presence of developed transport infrastructures with neighboring countries, direct flights in this direction are also increasing. For instance, two Armenian airlines have announced the launch of the Yerevan-Tehran-Yerevan route, which can give an impetus to the activation of Armenia-Iran passenger flow. 

The geographical distribution of tourists arriving in Armenia is quite concentrated. This year, more than half of the 10 countries which provided the main tourist growth are the Russian Federation, with 519,163 tourist result, Georgia with about 11%, Iran is in the third place, with 6% result or with 58,494 tourists. Moreover, about 64% of tourists prefer to visit Armenia by air (Zvartnots and Shirak airports, which had a record number of 3mil. 697 thous. passengers in 2022), and the most popular among the 5 land routes is the Bagratashen border checkpoint on Armenian-Georgian border for 21.6%, followed by Bavra for 9% and the Meghri border checkpoint on Armenian-Iranian border for around 4%.

Tourism in Armenia attracts visitors with its accessibility, safety and diversity. In general, according to calculations of the Central Bank of Armenia, the average spending of 1 tourist in 2022 was $1100-1200. Based on various international rating scales, Armenia is on the list of the safest countries in the world, it is a country of low risk, where the safety of tourists is at a fairly high level and the latter feel very safe. Statistical data prove that the field has a great potential to make Armenia a regional tourism hub, including developing a component of being a transit country connecting Asia with Europe. It is noteworthy, that regional tourism also has an important component in the development of tourism in Armenia. It is estimated that 42% of tourists come to Armenia within the framework of regional visits, among them Armenia is the main destination of arrival for most of the tourists visiting the region, followed by Georgia. Iran ranks the 3rd in Armenia by a number of tourist visits, especially tourist flows become more active during Novruz. However, the tourism potential between the countries in the region is not fully used, and it is possible to make the field more active by developing awareness campaigns and marketing interactions, as well as joint tourist packages.

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