The necessity to improve the legal field arose from the need to specify the requirements for tourism activities and services and define control measures in the conditions of dynamic development and new challenges typical of the tourism field. The RA Minister of Economy Vahan Kerobyan said this at the extraordinary sitting of the RA NA Standing Committee on Economic Affairs on November 20. In the first reading, the draft law on Tourism and the attached package of draft laws were debated. It should be noted that the debate of the package of drafts was postponed once for a period of two months. During that time, a number of working debates were held. According to the Deputy Chair of the Standing Committee on Economic Affairs Babken Tunyan, they reached an agreement on all the points.
According to the key rapporteur, the Minister of Economy Vahan Kerobyan, the policy-making body in the field of tourism does not have control levers over service providers. As a result of the lack of clear mechanisms, the rights of the consumers are very often violated, as well as the business relations between the representatives of the private sector are disrupted, as a result of which the latter suffer material losses. All this leaves its negative consequences on the image of Armenia as an attractive tourist destination.
International experience shows that the best way to ensure the quality of tourist services is to regulate the activities of service providers.
With the proposed amendments and addenda, it is planned to make the activity of tourist operators, agents, hotel services, tour guides and escorts a type of activity subject to notification. Clear standards and requirements are defined for persons providing tourism services. The notions used in the field of tourism were clarified and new notions were defined.
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Training and qualification of tour guides and escorts, requirements for tourist information centers, and the possibility of voluntary qualification for tourist buses have also been designed.
“Over 2 million tourists visited Armenia in the ten months of 2023. We expect that the number of tourists visiting Armenia will reach 2.4 million by the end of the year. It is a record result of more than 25% compared to 2019, our best tourism year,” Vahan Kerobyan informed.
“Tourism in Armenia has reached an unprecedented level, and it is unacceptable to leave this important sector without control,” the co-rapporteur, the MP David Arushanyan said. Referring to some components of tourism, Davit Arushanyan pointed out. “Tourism also includes a serious component of foreign policy, because every foreigner, coming to Armenia, can become our ambassador in his/her country if they receive good service and if the country is presented correctly.”
The MP Narek Ghahramanyan inquired about which structure is responsible for presenting Armenia as an attractive country for tourism on international platforms and what kind of work is being done in this direction. According to Babken Tunyan, recognition can be promoted not only by commercials on specific tourist topics, but also by the presentation of various events. According to him, Science and Business Days are planned for December 1-2 in Armenia: World famous scientists were invited. Babken Tunyan mentioned that such events will also promote the recognition of the country.
At the request of the deputy of Armenia Faction Tadevos Avetisyan, Vahan Kerobyan touched upon the control functions and legal regulations, fines, as well as the steps aimed at activating the tourist environment in Jermuk city, security.
Referring to a number of provisions, Tsovinar Vardanyan, in particular, spoke about the wording ‘Diaspora Armenian tourist’ used in the legislative package, stressing that it “narrows the general scope by creating a target group”. She proposed to remove the mentioned provision and wording. “I think that there should not be such a separation between Armenian citizens and Armenians with dual citizenship in the RA Law on Tourism,” Tsovinar Vardanyan underlined.
The Deputy Head of the Tourism Committee Susanna Hakobyan, in response to the proposals and observations presented by Tsovinar Vardanyan, stated that they are mostly acceptable. According to her, the proposals of the Committee member regarding the wording ‘Diaspora Armenian tourist’ will be observed again.
Zaruhi Batoyan, attaching importance to the adoption of the legislative package, informed that she worked with the Ministry of Economy in the elaboration stage and some proposals were accepted at that stage. “I think that the international community cannot imagine the development of tourism without ensuring inclusiveness. This applies to all travel services. 3 out of 5 proposals were accepted. Perhaps the most important of my proposals was not accepted, which refers to ensuring accessibility standards for all hotels and sanatoriums. However, we have agreed that we will address this issue within the framework of another programme being debated and developed by the Government, which is aimed at making the already built public, industrial buildings accessible,” Zaruhi Batoyan said.
According to Babken Tunyan, among a number of other proposals, the proposals of Zaruhi Batoyan, regarding which there is already a consensus, will be presented during the period from the first to the second reading.
The legislative initiative was endorsed.
National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia