The tourism industry will recover in the second half of 2021 according to the head of the Armenian Tourism Federation, Mekhak Apresyan. During a teleconference at Sputnik Armenia, which experts from Belarus, Moldova, and Georgia also participated in, Mekhak Apresyan said, “If we are able to overcome the coronavirus quickly, then it is possible to see some movement as soon as autumn, but it will only be possible for travel to return to normal during the second half of next year.”
Experts mostly share this opinion, saying that some time will be necessary after the virus subsides for the tourism sector to recover, as well as transportation and the hotel industry.
Only a representative of the Guides Association of Georgia, Ekaterina Lamadze, was more optimistic. According to her, the tourism sector will start to recover in Georgia as early as this summer.
According to Mekhak Apresyan, there will be a dramatic increase in tourists in Armenia and the rest of the world when the virus subsides. This is due to the fact that people have simply grown tired of staying home. As soon as the borders open and people are allowed to travel, tourism will increase.
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However, Mekhak Apresyan does not believe that the industry can recover without state assistance. He compared the situation to the H1N1 outbreak in 2009. Tourism statistics that year decreased by 4 percent, but when the virus subsided, there was an increase in tourist activity by the fourth quarter of 2009. And in 2010, international tourist activity increased by 6.6 percent. For comparison, the expert noted that international tourist activity in 2008 was 2 percent. In Armenia, tourist activity reached 10 percent in 2010, compared to 3 percent in 2009.
According to official data, Armenia has lost 135 million USD as a result of the coronavirus outbreak.
According to Belarusian expert and Chairman of the Republican Union of Tourism Industry, Philip Huly, tourism after the coronavirus will be much different. The expert believes that people will opt for domestic travel instead of international travel in the beginning.
Nelly Grigoryan
