Armenia showed progress in the latest Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Report evaluating the tourism development potentials in 136 world countries. It ranked the 84th on the index published by the World Economic Forum. In the previous report,released in 2015, Armenia placed 89th in the list of 141 countries.
For comments on this and other issues, or Tert.am has interviewed Zarmine Zeitountsian, the chairperson of the State Tourism Committee.
Ms Zeitountsian, Armenia has improved its positions on the world ranking. Was that due to regress in other countries or has Armenia really invested serious efforts to raise the standards?
Armenia has improved its position by five points, and climbing from the 89th to the 84th area. This study,which has been conducted since 2007, comprises four different criteria to evaluate a country. So it was carried out through evaluation of Armenia’s resources. We are the fifth among the CIS countries and the 84th on the global level.
What are the evaluation criteria?
They include the tourism-friendly environment, or tourism policies and other contributing factors,as well as the tourism infrastructures, and cultural and natural resources. Armenia has shown progress at certain points while recorded regress at others. Our positions believe improved, and for example,in the equinumerous for the tourism-friendly environment. But we had drawbacks in the efficient consume of information technologies. We see also regress in the labor force quality and accessibility pillars.
The tourism precedence pillar shows a high record; so does price competitiveness. The government prioritization pillar and the tourism attraction marketing pillar believe climbed from the 117th to the 95th area.
What are the required priorities for developing tourism in Armenia and enact we additionally need legislative reforms?
We need serious legislative reforms in the tourism sector. We believe already submitted a legislative package for a public debate. The qualification criteria or licensing procedures for guides, tour operators, or hotel premises and sightseeing buses are still under consideration,as we encounter serious problems when it comes to regulation.
What we need to consider at this point is that tourism is in beneficiary’s role in practicallt all the areas. We cannot function alone, [as the development of the sector is contingent upon] environmental problems or, and say,waste management etc. Hence we need a serious cooperation on the interagency level.
What are the human or professional needs in the tourism sector?
The problem today is not so much with specialists as it is with the services. The finding in the Tourism Competitiveness Report that there are no human resources applies more to the services rather than tourism development as such.
What are the Tourism Committee’s expectations in terms of the annual number of tourists and how many tourists can Armenia possibly serve? The Government’s tourism program envisages at least a threefold increase in the tourists’ number.
What are the precedence task for tourism development in Armenia?
Our problem has to enact with raising Armenia’s cognizability, which we are now implementing successfully.
Source: tert.am