Assured by the tour agencies in the conversation with “Aravot”
“Nagorno-Karabakh border tension has no effect on tourists’ flow, mobility and dynamics,” says the Director of “Loca Travel” LLC, Ruzanna Melkonyan, in the conversation with “Aravot”.
We asked the tourism industry experts what impact the recent events in the Armenian -Azerbaijani border have on tourism. Whether there is a noticeable decline in the number of visitors or tourism or not. In the conversation with us, responsible tourism companies assured that it is true that the travelers express some concerns in this regard, however, they do not give up with their intention of visiting Armenia.
According to them, there has been no sharp decline in the number of tourism. “Loca Travel” LLC Director says, “No unusual trend was recorded in either outgoing or incoming tourism, and everything is going to be a regulated process. We have received orders for receiving incoming tourist groups last year, currently no cancellation or postponing is recorded.”
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As said by Ms. Ruzanna, in such cases, the international experience also shows that there is no significant reduction in the number of tourists. “People keep coming, we receive new orders, and much more,” he says, and brings the example of Spain, “In Spain where the situations was a little bit revolutionary, again everything was settled very soon, and it does not affect the tourism. We sometimes speak of our outside partners, and they also say that in such cases the number of tourists can sometimes go slightly down, but it does not have a significant impact.”
“Noyan Tun” travel agency also informed that overseas sometimes is interested to know what is going on in Armenia, but it does not affect the reduction in the number of tourists, they keep coming as Armenia has a lot to show to the tourists who are interested in mountain tourism.
In the conversation with Aravot, Director of “BOGEMA Travel” travel company, Nelly Tonoyan, says, “To be honest, the tourists that are decided to come, anyway, are coming, but in the last few days, the order have become few and we related it with the timing.”
She also notes that those coming to Armenia from the outside are not so much worried, which cannot be said about those living inside the country. “Domestic tourism users who are travelling to Karabakh are asking whether they should go or not, there was a case that the customer going to Turkey has cancel his visit. The outsiders do not ask, mostly Armenians are worried about. I assume that this information is not even circulated outside.” The fact that a few outsiders know about the incidents on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border is confirmed also by the “Hyur Service” travel agency manager, Marianna Kosakyan. She also certifies that generally, there is some discomfort, but it has not affected in the number of tourists to decrease. “So far, no one has canceled his visit.”
HRIPSIME HOVHANNISYAN
