Some 252,000 foreign tourists visit Armenia in quarter one
The number of foreign tourists visiting Armenia in the first quarter of 2016 grew by 8.6% from the same time span of 2015 to about 252,000, according to Mekhak Apresyan, head of an economy ministry department in charge of tourism industry.
Speaking at an Armenian-American Business Forum in Yerevan today Apresyan said Armenia had registered an annual growth of tourists by about 10%. The only exception was 2015 when their number dropped by about 1% from the previous year.
According to Apresyan, 20 hotels, including some owned by well-known brands, have opened in the last three years both in the capital Yerevan and beyond it in addition to 20 guest houses that have opened in rural communities.
Apresyan said winter, extreme, gastronomy and wellness tourism are developing and according to some studies, the number of tourists aged 18-35 has increased several times in recent years to 34%.
In 2015 Armenia was visited by 1.192 million foreign tourists, which was 1% lower than in 2014. -0-