An attempt is being made to increase tourist flows to Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) with the cooperation of the state and private sector. After the 44-day war and the pandemic, tourism in Artsakh needs to be restored, says the head of the Armenian Tourism Federation.
“We will develop the necessary measures and directions by diversifying tourism products, presenting them properly to both the Armenian and world markets, and implementing the necessary marketing and promotion measures. And it is very possible to inform the world, to present that Artsakh has been and still is, safe and secure,” says Mekhak Apresyan, President of the Tourism Federation of Armenia.
Representatives of the tour operators of Armenia and Tourism Committee are in Artsakh at the invitation of the Tourism Development Agency. The latter offers its colleagues to use the hashtag ‘Artsakh is safe’.
“The number one task is to show our compatriots in Armenia that they can continue to visit Artsakh as they did a year ago. The number two task is to restore the sense of security among people that they have always felt safe in Artsakh,” says Sergey Shahverdyan, Head of Artsakh Tourism Development Agency.
Arkady Sahakyan, who has 30 years of experience in the tourism sector, is not worried that tourists will hardly prefer to come to Artsakh after the war. They are already receiving applications.
“If we do not count the population of Armenia, it is the French who are interested, as they have visited Artsakh for many years, we have regular customers from the USA who came to Armenia, Artsakh, then went to Georgia, Azerbaijan to compare the region. They also have expressed a desire to return to the old places. And the Italians, who had a lot to do with the Christian history of Artsakh,” says Arkady Sahakyan, Head of ‘Avarayr’ Travel Company.
Prior to the study visit, the representatives of the Tourism Committee and the Tourism Federation of Armenia paid tribute to the memory of the servicemen killed in the 44-day war at Stepanakert Memorial.
