Tourism

Tackling tourism issues in a tourism atmosphere

Tourism industry demonstrated a significant success during the last ten years ensuring 20% annual average increase as well as 3-4% increase during the financial crisis thus overcoming the risk of decline. Nevertheless, there are still numerous constraints and obstacles, which may be removed only with the help of public-private partnership to ensure further development of the industry. This was the main objective of the first Meeting without Ties forum organized for tourism industry by the Ministry of Economy and the Board of Tourism Associations with support from USAID Competitive Armenian Private Sector (CAPS) Program.

The leaders and professionals of the tourism sector (representing 40 tourism companies, 5 business unions, including Armenian Hotel Association, Union of Incoming Tour Operators, Armenian Guides Guild, Armenian Association of Travel Agents and ASTA) had an opportunity to discuss the current industry agenda with the Government officials in an unofficial atmosphere. The Government was represented by the Minister of Economy Nerses Yeritsyan and Deputy Ministers of Economy, Transport and Communication, Finance, Territorial Administration.  The forum agenda included items related to current legislative drawbacks, possible application of international experience as well as peculiarities of Armenian business thinking and business management.

One of the important outcomes of the event was the agreement with the Ministry of Economy to prepare an action plan aiming at business reforms and improving the environment. As a first step the private sector will officially submit a well justified analysis and  recommendations on guides licensing, tax legislation improvement, development of special bus stations for tourist buses in Yerevan, and installation of toilets in tourist sites.  “The Meetings Without Ties forums have proved their effectiveness with IT industry and we encourage you to continue and institutionalize them as well”, said Minister Yeritsyan.

Currently, experts of RA Ministry of Economy and CAPS Project are jointly developing a new draft Law on Tourism, which will include the recommendations of tourism companies in view of their direct interaction with tourists and experience in the practical application of the law.       

DILIJAN NATIONAL PARK HIKING TRAILS' GUIDEBOOK RELEASED

22.07.2010. CAPS has supported the Dilijan National Park (DNP) by developing and publishing of an English-language hiking trail guidebook to further regional tourism development and increase public awareness of the National Park. The guidebook contains information on 11 hiking trails and includes maps, descriptions of trails and other useful information. The guidebook aims to serve for both foreign and domestic tourists; those who like to actively spend their vacations in the countryside and visit cultural, historical and natural monuments hidden in the forests away from typical tourism routes. The guidebook will be of particular interest to nature lovers as it contains names of flora and fauna species to be found. Trail descriptions also include useful information of their altitude and available mobile phone reception; important for independent hikers. The guidebook includes some useful Armenian words and hiking instructions.

All 11 hiking trails vary in their level of difficulty. Some take in picnic spots, some lead to farming settlements. Some trails pass through deep forests to mountain lakes and waterfalls, unique red wood groves and monasteries almost completely overtaken by nature. Some pass through fields and pastures taking hikers to mountain peaks from where they can see the amazing scenery of the National Park and Sevan Lake.
One thousand copies of the guidebook were published and given to the DNP. The guidebook will be provided to the Dilijan information center for distribution to tourists. They can be also be found at the DNP office in Dilijan. An electronic version of the guidebook will be placed on the DNP website (www.dilijanpark.am) enabling future visitors to obtain before arrival. 

CAPS Employee Uses Free Time To Promote Her Hometown Of Stepanavan As a Tourism Destination In Armenia Under IREX Grant

28.06.2010 Taguhi Sahakyan, CAPS employee/UGRAD Alumna 2000 – 2001 has published The Mysteries and Sacred Sights of Stepanavan District - the first Travel Guide on Stepanavan District. The project has been made possible through the International Research and Exchanges Board (IREX) grant. By implementing this project, Taguhi hopes that it will help to develop tourism in this area and recover the name of Stepanavan as a top tourism destination in Armenia. The purpose of creating this travel guide is to attract more tourists and visitors, travel agencies to cooperate and new investors to invest in this district, bring government attention to former tourism center of Armenia and finally help to improve the economy of the region.

Currently the English version is available. However, in future it will be available in 5-6 international languages. Photos can be viewed here.  

Tackling Tourism Issues In a Tourism Atmosphere

Jul.. 9, 2010 Tourism industry demonstrated a significant success during the last ten years ensuring 20% annual average increase as well as 3-4% increase during the financial crisis thus overcoming the risk of decline. Nevertheless, there are still numerous constraints and obstacles, which may be removed only with the help of public-private partnership to ensure further development of the industry. This was the main objective of the first Meeting without Ties forum organized for tourism industry by the Ministry of Economy and the Board of Tourism Associations with support from USAID Competitive Armenian Private Sector (CAPS) Program.
 
The leaders and professionals of the tourism sector (representing 40 tourism companies, 5 business unions, including Armenian Hotel Association, Union of Incoming Tour Operators, Armenian Guides Guild, Armenian Association of Travel Agents and ASTA) had an opportunity to discuss the current industry agenda with the Government officials in an unofficial atmosphere. The Government was represented by the Minister of Economy Nerses Yeritsyan and Deputy Ministers of Economy, Transport and Communication, Finance, Territorial Administration.  The forum agenda included items related to current legislative drawbacks, possible application of international experience as well as peculiarities of Armenian business thinking and business management.

One of the important outcomes of the event was the agreement with the Ministry of Economy to prepare an action plan aiming at business reforms and improving the environment. As a first step the private sector will officially submit a well justified analysis and  recommendations on guides licensing, tax legislation improvement, development of special bus stations for tourist buses in Yerevan, and installation of toilets in tourist sites.  “The Meetings Without Ties forums have proved their effectiveness with IT industry and we encourage you to institutionalize them for the tourism industry as well”, said the Minister Yeritsyan.

Currently, experts of RA Ministry of Economy and CAPS Project are jointly developing a new draft Law on Tourism, which will include the recommendations of tourism companies in view of their direct interaction with tourists and experience in the practical application of the law.

Armenian Tourism Sector Can Already Utilize International Online Payments Systems 

CAPS and National Competitiveness Foundation of Armenia recently organized a workshop aimed to introduce international online booking and payment opportunities for tourism sector offered by Armenian banks. During last two years, CAPS has been periodically receiving complaints from tourism companies and hotels about disability to use international Visa or Master Card systems on their websites for reservations or payments from tourists residing outside Armenia. This leaves them out of a big part of market. To recall some statistics, in the first quarter of 2008 nearly a third (32%) of all individuals aged 16-74 in the Europe had used internet for travel and accommodation services (Eurostat Information and Communication Technologies usage survey). According to National Statistical Service of Armenia approximately 575,000 international tourists visited Armenia between January-December 2009. Around 328,000 (57,1%) of them were from the EU and North America.

CAPS has held a series of meetings with Armenian banks and identified that some of them already provide such services for other business companies in Armenia and 15 Armenian banks are ready to provide these services for Armenian companies including tourism sector. During the workshop heads of card departments of ArmBusinessBank and ArmEconomBank presented their offers for international Master Card payment processing services. They also announced that by the end of this year they will be also able to process international Visa payments. In the workshop internet payments security and certification issues were presented to tourism companies by Apaga Technology. The workshop attended around 20 tourism companies. Presentations resulted active dialog between companies and presenters. One of the aims of the workshop was to bridge Armenian banks and tourism sector in order to stimulate introduction of online booking and payment methods in Armenia.

You see, in Van we've decided... 

By Lusine Petrosyan
“Hraparak” daily - May, 15, 2010

Yesterday at the premises of the “Moscow” cinema, the opening ceremony for an International Tourism Exhibition was held, with officials from the Ministry of Economy, USAID leadership in Armenia, CAPS Project, etc. participating in the event. The exhibition will last for two days and will present to the Armenian public, tourist packages and agencies from the United Arab Emirates, Tunisia, Czech Republic, Austria, etc. and from this region that still has a rather strange assemblage- Armenia, Georgia and Turkey. The International Tourism Exhibition takes place every year and this is the 10th. We don’t know what countries participated during the 1st exhibition. However, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates are this year’s newcomers for sure.

The booths of both the Emirates and Turkey were interesting but first let us turn to attractive news from Armenian pavilions. An electronic device called CityGuide was presented at the exhibition that will be invaluable support to guests to the Republic, and especially the capital, Yerevan. These Information Points, as they are otherwise known, are located in popular hotels, business centers, etc. One has just to choose the language on CityGuide’s monitor and then easily attain the required information on where to have dinner, where to withdraw cash, where to go for shopping, where to rent a car, where to visit for sightseeing, etc. Whether the idea of CityGuide is taken from other countries or  originates from Armenia, the implementation is delightful. The second attractive news from the Armenian booths was information about the existence of the Armenian Institute for Tourism, a specialized university, and in this respect, the only one in the South Caucasus; perhaps even in the broader region. The Institute appears to be the branch of a Russian university. The next pleasant news was the tourist packages offered from the regions of Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh. One would get the impression that certain organizational support and intervention was made in the tourism industry of the Republic, for sure, to take the sphere to the same standards and style of operation as found internationally. More...

Armenia - A Top Emerging Faith-Based Tourism Destination

Armenia was featured as the number one emerging faith-based travel destination among the top ten countries in Leisure Group Travel Magazine, which is distributed to 30,000 religious travel trade representatives and group travel planners. This is one of the outcomes of a large initiative undertaken by USAID/CAPS to position Armenia in the global faith-based tourism marketplace as a biblical destination.

In today's globally developing tourism and hospitality in­dust­ry it is imperative for countries to tap into new markets, especially those that are rapidly growing, such as faith-based tourism. With its rich religious heritage and history, Armenia has the potential to become a major player in this global market. Armenia is a rare country to offer faith-based travelers a valuable comprehensive insight into Chris­tian history, which starts with the first book of the Bible (Ge­nesis), namely the landing of Noah's Ark on Mt. Ararat, one of Armenia's symbols. Armenia was the first country in the world to adopt Christianity as their state religion and it was evan­gelized by two of Jesus' apostles. These are factors that will make Armenia an extremely attractive destination for religious trave­lers. The country can also boast having three of its religious sites designated by UNESCO as World Heritage Sites because of their historical and cultural significance. However, despite these re­mar­kable facts, a lack of awareness restrains the country from beco­ming a global faith-based market player. To address this issue, CAPS started to help the local tourism industry to better position Armenia in this market and to increase the country's market share. In 2008, CAPS assisted ATDA and two local inbound tour ope­ra­tors to participate at the first World Religious Travel Expo orga­nized by the World Religious Travel Association in Orlando, USA, which hosted over 30 participating countries (100 exhibitors) and attracted more than 500 visi­tors, inclu­ding tour operators, travel agents, tourist orga­nizations and other tra­vel trade representa­tives. CAPS continued its support to the local tourism industry with the abovementioned Expo in 2009 as well. Besides the logistical arran­gements, CAPS sponsored the printing of the Spiritual Ar­menia brochure, which was distributed among par­tici­pants and vi­si­tors of the expo. In order to increase the impact from the parti­ci­pation of Armenian companies in this travel fair, CAPS hired Kevin Wright, founder and president of the World Religious Travel Asso­ciation and coordinator of the World Religious Travel Expo to pro­mo­te Armenia both prior to and during the event. His promotional efforts resulted in a number of articles in faith-based travel publi­cations distributed to global travel professionals (such as Church Executive Travel, Leisure Group Travel Ma­gazine, WRTA e-news­letter), a radio interview with KUNR (a US radio station with 40.000 listeners), a radio segment devoted to Armenia on EWTN (the largest religious media network in the world) and a highlight on Armenia during his Keynote Address at the Expo opening promoting the count­ry as one of the greatest stories of religious tourism never told. He also helped ATDA and participating tour operators during the expo with networking, making busi­ness contacts and partaking in panel discussions. As a follow up, CAPS invited Mr. Wright to Armenia for short-term consulting. During his visit, the consultant had individual meetings with Armenian inbound tour operators to assess the faith-based tour products offered and suggest impro­ve­ments based on international best practice. He delivered a seminar on building a successful and profitable religious tra­vel program in Armenia for local tour opera­tors and guest lectured for tourism lecturers and students. Mr. Wright also developed the Armenia Religious Tourism Market Business/Strategic Plan based on his findings to serve as guidan­ce for tourism industry representatives and the public sector in religious travel product marketing, sales, publicity budgeting etc.

Today religious tourism is one of the largest and exten­sively gro­wing travel markets in the world. In recent years it has developed from a niche to mass market and has beco­me a key cornerstone of the global travel industry with rather impressive statistics (pro­vi­ded by CAPS short term consultant, WRTA President Kevin Wright). The faith-based market is estimated at 300 million tra­ve­lers globally with more than 200 million of them comprising the Chris­tian travel market. The market experiences a significant growth. The faith-based travel by Americans alone has doubled over the past 5 years and is expected to continue. Despite of the recession some faith-based travel desti­na­tions had their best tourism years - Palestine (i.e. Bethle­hem), for instance, generated 95% of its revenues from reli­gious tourism.

CTS2010 Annual Tourism Fair Most Successful

The official launch of the 10th annual international tourism fair, CTS2010 (Caucasus Travel Show), took place on May 14, at Moscow Cinema, Yerevan. The fair was organized with support from, and in cooperation with, the USAID-funded Competitive Armenian Private Sector (CAPS) Project and was officially opened by the RA Deputy Minister of Economy, Ara Petrosyan, the leadership of the Armenian Association of Travel Agents (AATA) and USAID/Armenia Mission Director, Dr. Jatinder Cheema. 

This year, CTS2010 focused on regional tourism development; for the first time, the fair hosted an unprecedented number of companies from Turkey (namely from Van), as well as Georgia and Tunisia. The Turkish delegation included representatives of the Turkish Association of Travel Agents (TURSAB), hotels and tourism companies, 3 Deputy Mayors of Van, the Head of Van Chamber of Commerce, numerous businessmen, officials and reporters; 40 people in total. Georgia was represented by the Georgian Tourism Association, Association of Guides in Georgia and a number of tourism companies.

CTS2010 hosted 87 companies in total, including 13 from Turkey, 6 from Georgia and 2 from Tunisia. Nagorno-Karabagh was represented by 1 company. There were 65 companies from Yerevan and various Marzes of Armenia. This year’s fair was exceptional in terms of the number of visitors as well. The first two days of the fair attracted 20,000 visitors. Over 4000 tourism booklets were distributed during the first day.

One round table-discussion and several individual meetings were organized within the the framework of CTS2010, enabling many Armenian tourism companies to meet their Turkish and Georgian partners. The most important goal of the fair was to foster inbound tourism and develop partnerships in regional tourism, so that tourists visiting one country in the region, also tour to neighboring countries due to the effective cooperation among tour agents. CTS2010 provided industry representatives with a chance to get insight into the general tourism development trends, as well as identify the perspectives of Armenia-Turkey-Georgia business relations.

Italian Success Story Presented to Tourism Lecturers’ Club

17.05.2010 The Tourism Lecturers’ Club welcomed today, CAPS international expert from Italy, Nadia Pasqual, who shared her experience and delivered a presentation on targeting the Italian outbound travel market. Nadia Pasqual has more than 10 years of Italian and overseas tourism promotion experience. She was hired by the CAPS Project in 2007 and since then actively promoted Armenia in international travel fairs, developed and maintained relationships with Italian tour operators, journalists, media companies, travel agents and other travel professionals, promoted Armenia on Italian tourism and travel web portals, developed relationships and collaborated with the Italian Armenian Diaspora community and performed various other activities. Nadia also visited Armenia and trained Armenian tour operators on the nuances of the Italian travel trade, delivered presentations on the Italian market and promotional efforts to tourism students and tourism industry professionals, prepared a promotional plan for further activities to promote Armenia in Italy as well as other activities, in order to prepare Armenian partners to further collaborate with Italian tour operators.

As a result of her activities, more than 180 print and online articles were published, featuring Armenia, in major tourism magazines and newspapers between 2007 and 2010; Armenia and Armenian tour operators started to be featured in a number of printed and online travel directories; and more than 13,000 travel agencies in Italy started to regularly receive updates about Armenia.

Promotional activities resulted in more than 20 new Italian tour operators/travel agencies operating trips to Armenia, direct scheduled flights between Yerevan and Rome and Yerevan and Verona, and up to a 122% increase in the demand for Armenian vacations by Italian tour operators. Three of the largest Italian tour operators announced new tours to Armenia in their 2008 and 2009 brochures and there has been a huge demand from tour operators and journalists to visit Armenia.    

4TH ANNUAL TOURISM COMPETITIVENESS CONFERENCE HELD

The conference hosted over 200 guests including tourism representatives from Turkey and Georgia, tour agencies and heads of associations who arrived in Armenia to take part in CTS 2010 Tourism Fair. 

CAPS Chief of Party Artak Ghazaryan presented progress made by the Armenian tourism industry in recent years through CAPS financial and advisory support, and discussed how the adoption of international corporate business practices had impacted the organizational effectiveness and integration of the private sector. Mr. Ghazaryan mentioned that tourism sector may become one of the largest economic contributors if the money is properly spent, correct approaches are adopted and right policy is implemented. He also talked about legacy mechanisms to ensure the sustainability of this annual event after the project’s completion.

The conference also featured the Director of the National Competitiveness Foundation of Armenia, Pegor Papazian, who spoke about tourism development policy and outlined current and predicted projects.
 
CAPS Italian consultant Nadia Pasqual presented an analysis of Armenia’s promotion efforts in Italy since 2007. CAPS Senior Competitiveness expert Alan Saffery discussed how the tourism industry has changed over the past 5 years and identified steps that need to be taken in the future. Other presentations touched upon integration of tourism education and the business environment, as well as annual tourism trade shows and the opportunities they offer.

Regional tourism development opportunities were presented by the president of TÜRSAB Ecotourism Committee, Turkey, Sinan Haliç, who spoke about the need for, and advantages of, cooperation to increase the profitability of the tourism industry and make the whole region more attractive for tourists.

Another speaker, President of the Armenian Chapter of the American Society of Travel Agents, Yeghishe Tanashyan, talked about the CTS 2010 tourism fair.

At the end of the event, conference participants summarized the results of their last five-year activities and identified their upcoming steps directed at promotion of Armenia’s tourism competitiveness in the global post-crisis economy. 

Please find the conference materials here.   

Interpretation Boards Installed at Matenadaran

Apr. 29, 2010 The Armenian Monuments Awareness Project (AMAP) installed multilingual interprtation panels at the Mesrop Mashtots Institute of Ancient Manuscripts today.  The panels were installed near the museum entrance, enabling tourists to read information about the museum, and in the museum hall itself, enabling visitors to get more detailed information on the manuscripts.

During the opening event, an exclusive guided presentation was organized, where guests and visitors could see how the ancient manuscripts are stored and restored. The String Quartet of New Names performed medieval music during the event.

The project is supported by the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) Armenia and the Ministry of Culture, through financial support from the USAID-funded Competitive Armenian Private Sector (CAPS) Project, VivaCell-MTS, the Honorary Consul for Italy in Gyumri, Antonio Montalto, and Norwegian Ministry for Foreign Affairs. Aghvan Hovsepyan, General Prosecutor of RA, Marie Yovanovitch, US Ambassador to Armenia and Dr. Jatinder Cheema, USAID Mission Director, attended the event and gave opening speeches.

Armenian Tourism Industry Drives for Changes in Tourism Law

With assistance from CAPS, the Ministry of Economy (MoE) organized a series of meetings with tourism industry stakeholders to identify current obstacles in Armenia’s tourism industry so as to take account of them and revise Armenia’s tourism law. Four meetings were held at the Ministry attended by the industry’s major players: Armenian Association of Travel Agents, Armenian Bartenders Association, Armenian Ecotourism Association, Armenian Hotel Association, Guild of Armenian Tourist Guides and the Union of Incoming Tour Operators of Armenia. The meetings were interesting and effective for industry stakeholders as they focused in-depth on the Ministry’s plans for modification. Stakeholders also had the opportunity to present their own suggestions for the development of the new law, based on their personal, professional and international experience, in order to create favorable conditions for tourism development.

During the meetings, participants discussed issues such as hotel price and food service regulation, absence of camping infrastructure and first aid facilities in remote areas, issues during border control, language knowledge requirements for tourism sector employees and Bed and Breakfast certification.

The meetings were led by Ara Petrosyan, Deputy Minister of Economy, and Mekhak Apresyan, Head of the Department for Tourism and Regional Development.  The MoE promised to analyze all comments received and take them into account in the draft law. Tourism laws from developed countries will be used as a reference for the new law drafting.

The Ministry of Economy and CAPS plan to continue discussions with industry specialists and stakeholders in order to reach consensus on the draft.

Once the draft law has been developed, MoE and CAPS will organize round table discussions in an informal format and will bring together all related ministries such as culture, nature protection, urban development, local administration management as well as the road police and Yerevan Municipality representatives and tourism sector stakeholders to discuss the law. CAPS will also provide assistance to finalize the tourism law through project specialists and international tourism experts.

APPLICATION OF THE GAINED KNOWLEDGE IN ARMENIA

April 13, 2010: To bridge the gap between the skills acquired in higher education and the needs of employers – CAPS, in collaboration with the USAID-funded Community Connections (CC) program, undertook research on the integration of tourism education and the business environment. The purpose of the study was to analyze and evaluate courses and curricula in Armenian educational institutions offering tourism programs aiming. The research on the current status of educational programs of tourism departments was based on the Tourism Skills and Knowledge Needs Assessment carried out by CAPS back in 2007.

Driven by CAPS, the CC Program, administered by Project Harmony, organized and implemented a Tourism Educators’ Exchange trip to Boston for tourism and hospitality lecturers from major Yerevan-based universities and colleges.  A three-week-long trip was held in the USA between September 15 and October 6, 2008; the purpose being to promote and improve the quality of tourism/hospitality education, and therefore enhance the qualification of tourism educators to prepare specialists that meet Armenia’s tourism industry demand.

Wishing to ensure that the alumni use some of the experience gained from the trip, CAPS provided follow-up support to the lecturers to implement projects outlined in their action plans, and devised as a result of their trip. CAPS particularly focused on and supported the project that aimed to foster better working relationships between the private sector and university tourism departments, in order to develop cooperation and execute exchange activities. Thus, the project proposed by the Armenian Tourism Institute lecturers - Research on the Integration of Tourism Education and the Business Environment - was eventually supported by CAPS.

The initiative, conducted by four lecturers from the Armenian Tourism Institute, resulted in a report which studied and analyzed tourism education curricula in ten universities and three colleges in Armenia.

The findings of the study confirmed, once again, that academic curricula are not well-matched to the needs of the industry. Professors often do not have sufficient (industry-related) experience and/or academic qualifications. Additionally, internships are not as effective as they could be, and institutions do not offer practical experience opportunities to students. The study proved conclusively that cooperation between educational institutions and industry is remarkably limited, all this confirming that very little had changed since the time the Tourism Skills and Knowledge Needs Assessment was conducted three years ago.

Recommendations in the study include developing and incorporating skill development activities or approaches into coursework. Skills should be developed and enhanced through internships and other practical experiences. Additionally, it is important to build industry knowledge among professors and educational institutions and improve connections between educational institutions and the industry as a means to better equip graduates with the reality of the Armenian tourism industry.

The presentation of the research findings was conducted on Friday 9th April at the CAPS office. Representatives of educational institutions offering tourism programs were present at the session, which was followed by a lively discussion. Participants agreed that the research results and recommendations should be made widely available to the Ministry of Education and Science and Ministry of Economy officials as well as heads of educational institutions. 

The research, which offers valuable findings and recommendations, became possible through an unprecedented collaboration between two USAID-funded projects – CAPS and the Community Connections Program.   

Armenia at LA Times Travel & Adventure Show

FEBRUARY 22, 2010: Armenia exhibited for the first time at the Los Angeles Times Travel & Adventure Show held from 13th to 14th February. Armenia’s participation was organized by the Armenian American Chamber of Commerce and the Consulate General of the Republic of Armenia in Los Angeles, with support from the Armenian Tourism Development Agency (ATDA) and CAPS.

The show brought together more than 20,000 travel industry professionals including travel providers, agencies and group planners from around the world. Taking place in the center of one of Armenia’s key tourism markets the show was one of the largest in the US.

Three tour operators from Armenia travelled to LA to present their itineraries at the show - Armenia Travel +M, Elitar Travel and Nueva Vista Company. Their participation enabled them to develop new partnerships,  meet potential customers, generate new leads and build long term profitable relationships with new partners.

The show was particularly timely given the interest generated amongst US companies through Armenia’s participation at the World Religious Travel Expo, which took place in Reno, Nevada at the end of last year.   

Regional Tourism Cooperation for Turkey, Armenia, Azerbaijan & Georgia

For the first time, certainly in recent history, tourism industry representatives from Turkey, Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia came together to discuss regional cooperation on 13th and 14th December at a workshop and B2B event in Istanbul, Turkey.

The main purpose of this event was to demonstrate long-term potential for regional route development and industry cooperation among the four countries, and identify mutual interests in creating and presenting a regional brand (as a joint regional tourism destination) to the world.

This 2-day event was organized by the USAID-funded Human and Institutional Capacity Development (HICD) Program implemented by AED Armenia (Academy for Educational Development). They also provided support to enable Armenian tourism industry representatives to attend the event. Support was also received from GTZ (enabling participation of Georgian & Azeri participants) and TURSAB (encouraging participants from Turkey.  Armenia’s participants comprised 8 Tour Operators and representatives from ATDA (Armenian Tourism Development Agency), AED and the CAPS (Competitive Armenian Private Sector) Project. Ten participants from Georgia, 10 from Azerbaijan and 40 from Turkey were also present.

A workshop on the first day of the event enabled Armenia, Georgia and Azerbaijan to present their countries to each other and later, with Turkey, discuss possible creation of regional products which could include all four countries.

On the second day a B2B event among the tour operators from Armenia, Georgia and Azerbaijan commenced activities. Then later, Armenia, Georgia and Azerbaijan presented their countries to Turkish tour operators and discussed business opportunities.  

My Remarkable Trip to Biblical Armenia
Kevin J. Wright, President – World Religious Travel Association (WRTA)  

What brought me to Armenia? In short, as the president of the World Religious Travel Association, I came to discover whether Armenia is the next great “untapped” destination of the 300 million traveler Religious Market. What is my answer now? It is a resounding yes. Only Armenia can offer faith-based travelers a religious history that begins with the first book of the Bible (Genesis), serves as the first country to adopt the Christian faith, and can claim being evangelized by two of Jesus’ apostles Bartholomew and Thaddeus. No other biblical or faith-based destination can boast such facts and highlights. More...  

Braille Panels for Armenian Monuments

December 15, 2009. Multilingual Braille panels will soon be installed at major Armenian monuments throughout the country. The presentation and preview of the first panels were held on Friday, December 11, at the site of the 7th century Zvartnots Temple in Armavir. The event was organized by the Armenian Monuments Awareness Project (AMAP) NGO, the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) Armenia, and the Ministry of Culture through financial support from the USAID Competitive Armenian Private Sector (CAPS) project, VivaCell-MTS, and the Honorary Consul for Italy in Gyumri Antonio Montalto.

U.S. Ambassador Marie L. Yovanovitch, AMAP co-founder John Hughes and Chief of Party Rick Ney, and Ambassador of Italy to Armenia Bruno Scapini welcomed event participants, noting the significance of the project in enabling sight-impaired and blind visitors to read about the Armenian monuments on site in their own alphabet. Prepared in Braille – the read-by-touch alphabet for the blind – through special printing machine and produced by specialists in Italy, information for the Braille panels has been drawn from texts that summarize the standard visitor information panels installed by AMAP at Zvartnots in 2008. Five languages have been used for the panels: Eastern Armenian, English, Russian, Italian and French. These panels will serve as an introduction to the site and will be paired with AMAP’s upcoming Audio Tour program, which will enable visually impaired visitors to receive self-guided tours at the site.

The event included a preview of Braille panels and performances by the Armenian Blind Choir and the Armenian Blind Musical Ensemble. The Blind Association of Armenia and students from the School for the Blind were also in attendance at the unveiling of the new panels, which was followed by an exclusive guided tour of the Zvartnots Temple.

Since the launch of the AMAP Project in early 2008, the joint efforts of project implementers have resulted in over 330 information panels and directional signs being installed at 21 monuments and over 45 destinations throughout Armenia. The Project aims to enhance the visitor experience at major Armenian tourism attractions through the provision of prominent road signage, multi-language interpretation boards, printed materials and branded merchandise.

In addition to Zvartnots, Braille panels will be put up at Tatev, Geghard, Garni, Haghpat, Khor Virap-Artashat, Noravank Monastery-Noravank canyon, Karahundj-Zorats Kar, Historic Gyumri, Amberd, Sevanavank, Areni, Goshavank and Noratus as part of the AMAP Project.  

IMPROVING FAITH-BASED TOURISM PRODUCTS FOR ARMENIA

Nov. 24. The Armenian Tourism Development Agency (ATDA) and two tour operators from Armenia recently participated at the 2nd Annual World Religious Travel Expo in Reno, Nevada, between November 14th and 16th; the purpose being to create greater awareness of Armenia within this niche market.

The activity was supported by CAPS as part of a larger initiative to improve faith-based tourism products, and increase awareness of Armenia’s importance and inclusion within the list of worldwide faith destinations. CAPS consultant, Kevin Wright, founder and president of the World Religious Travel Association and coordinator of the World Religious Travel Expo, assisted and promoted ATDA and the tour operators during their participation at the Expo.

Mr. Wright is currently in Armenia until December 5. He is working with industry stakeholders and providing one-on-one consulting in product development or marketing to those tour operators that currently offer products and services to this niche market.

He will deliver a presentation on the topic of “How to Build a Successful and Profitable Religious Travel Program to Armenia” on Wednesday, December 3, from 15:00 to 17:00 at the CAPS office. The workshop is open to Armenian tour operators and industry stakeholders.

Visitor Information Panels Installed at Areni Cave  

November 15. Areni Cave, also known as Bird Cave, has recently attracted the attention of Armenia’s archeologists. more  

CTS ’09 Annual Travel Fair Opens in Yerevan 

NOVEMBER 6, 2009: CTS’09 (Country of Talking Stones) Annual International Tourism Fair opened in Yerevan on Friday. This traditional event has been organized by the Armenian Association of Travel Agents (AATA) and the Armenian Chapter of the American Society of Travel Agents (ASTA) under the patronage of the Ministry of Economy and in partnership with the Armenian Tourism Development Agency. The USAID-funded Competitive Armenian Private Sector (CAPS) Project provided technical and financial support to the organization of the event for the third consecutive year.

This year, the CTS Fair hosted 65 companies, including: travel agencies and tour operators, airlines, hotels, NGOs, tourism publishers, information agencies, educational institutions, business associations and other organizations supporting tourism sector. Each exhibitor demonstrated their products and services, met local and foreign counterparts, created new business linkages, and sold products and services to a wider public. Some booths also represented different regions of Armenia, as well as Nagorno Karabakh. This year, the fair featured the tourism destinations of Israel, Georgia, Greece and other countries.

The official ribbon-cutting ceremony was attended by Ara Petrosyan, Deputy Minister of Economy, Mekhak Apresyan, Head of Tourism and Regional Development Department, Alan Saffery, CAPS Senior Competitiveness Expert, Yeghishe Tanashyan, Vice  President of AATA and other tourism industry representatives.

In his remarks Ara Petrosyan highlighted the importance of regional tourism development. “We see Armenia’s tourism industry success in its integration with regional tourism” he stated.

In his turn Yeghishe Tanashyan emphasized the need for necessary steps to overcome the crisis. “Tourism was one of those industries that was hit first by the global economic crisis. But we hope to bridge the gap very soon, and we can already see that tendency. ”

CTS Travel Fair has been organized annually since 2000. Its overall goal is to promote incoming, regional, domestic and outgoing tourism in Armenia, increase the image of the country as a tourism destination worldwide, and enhance public awareness of the tourism industry.  

The Hotel Service Market Situation in the Republic of Armenia

Analysis by Mane Sargsyan

Nov. 4, 2009 The role of tourism and hospitality industry in world economy is steadily increasing. This is one of the most profitable and dynamically developing industries of the global economy. More...

Gyumri Hospitality Sector Needs Promotional Arm to Increase Domestic Visits

November 3, 2009. Training organized by CAPS on Marketing and Sales in the Hospitality business was delivered to around 20 representatives of Gyumri’s hospitality sector recently.  The House-Museum of Hovhannes Shiraz and Yerkinq NGO co-sponsored the event.   Dr. Mahmood Khan from the Department of Hospitality and Tourism Management at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech) in the United States, provided a 2-hour lecture on how to market a destination; particularly focusing on positioning and differentiation of the city or country. 

“Marketing is the set of activities that attempt to influence choice”, stated Dr. Khan.  “Marketing is a creative and value-added activity.  Customers buy ‘benefits’.  When they go to a restaurant, they don’t buy food, they buy ‘convenience, quality and ambience’.” 

The training was followed by an active Q&A, after which two teams prepared a list of strengths and weaknesses of Gyumri city as a tourism destination.  Based on the outcomes, the teams also created action plans, among which the highest priority action point was to open a tourism information center.  They suggested that almost all the weaknesses could be addressed and resolved by the active functioning visitor center.  Director of the H. Shiraz Museum, Mr. A. Papoyan, suggested using his premises for the purpose.  Shirakinfo agency, who had created a web portal http://www.shirakinfo.com/ suggested the participants to use it for free for uploading and sharing news and information.  Other participants from hotels, restaurants, a taxi company, state cultural agency, NGOs, & SME DNC also were willing to contribute with their resources. 

The training was actively publicized by the local TV stations Shant and Gala.    

Armenia at TTG Incontiri Italian Tradeshow

October 20, 2009. With CAPS support, the Armenian Tourism Development Agency (ATDA), for the second consecutive year, participated at the TTG Incontri travel tradeshow (Rimini 16th-18th October, 2009), Italy’s most important B2B travel tradeshow. Two Armenian tour operators, Elitar Travel and Fun Tour, exhibited with ATDA at the Armenia stand. Tens of Italian travel agents and tour operators visited the Armenian stand, meeting Syuzanna Azoyan, ATDA’s marketing director, and Nadia Pasqual, CAPS-hired Italian marketing consultant for ATDA, as well as the representatives of the two tour operators.  Promotional materials, including new press kits, were distributed to tour operators, travel agents and journalists. Representatives of Italy’s most popular travel trade magazines, such as L’Agenzia di Viaggi, TTG Italia and Guida Viaggi visited Armenia’s stand and expressed their interest for this rising destination.

In fact, Armenia has already become a recognized travel location at travel tradeshows in Italy as a result of ATDA’s and Armenian TOs’ participation at the most reputed exhibitions, such as BIT Milan and TTG Incontri Rimini, in the last five years. So much so, that this year, for the first time, some big names among Italian tour operators, such as Hotelplan and Brevivet, visited the stand and expressed their interest in the destination. Most of them already feature tours to Armenia in their brochures, others, such as Auratours and Rusconi Viaggi, announced their interest in starting selling trips to the country and met with Armenian tour operators at the tradeshow.

Among other business contacts made at Armenia’s stand, the air company Air Italy announced a new direct air connection from Verona to Yerevan to start in 2010. Although the final agreement is still in process, rumors are that the scheduled flight will operate twice a week, making it a good flight option for business and leisure travelers from Northern Italy’s richest cities, such as Milan, Bergamo, Brescia, Verona, Venice and Bologna. The new air connection will add to Armavia’s direct flight from Rome to Yerevan operating three times a week.

ATDA’s and TOs’ choice to participate at TTG Incontri was a successful one, since this expo is the not-to-be-missed annual appointment for most Italian tour operators and travel agents that flock to Rimini to meet their foreign partners and suppliers in order to make business in a very productive environment. Most of the largest Italian tour operators have their headquarters in Milan, Turin or Rome and the location of the expo at the modern fairgrounds in Rimini, about an hour from Bologna, makes it an attractive venue to meet travel companies from all over Italy. The timing of the expo is also very convenient; just when Italian tour operators are preparing their tours and brochures for the following year.

Armenia Represented at Top Resa International Travel Fair in Paris

The Armenian Tourism Development Agency (ATDA) recently participated, along with representatives of Saberatour Sevan, Geographic Travel and Voyage Armenia tourism companies, at the Top Resa International Travel Fair (22nd to 25th September) in Paris.

To help promote Armenia to the French travel trade, CAPS hired tourism consultant, Philippe Mugnier, to support Armenian exhibitors and ATDA during the travel fair – advising on trade fair techniques, driving visitors to the booth, developing a contacts database, arranging business meetings between French tourism industry representatives and Armenian exhibitors, etc. Philippe and ATDA also passed out copies of a new Armenia press kit containing up-to-date information about Armenia’s history, culture and spiritual heritage, nature, economy, handicrafts, cuisine and national holidays. The press kits were printed with support from CAPS.
Armenia’s booth was visited by Dominique Perben, French Minister of Tourism, Vigen Chitechyan, the Ambassador of Armenia in France and Francois Rochebloine, member of the Council of Europe and  3rd Vice President of the General Council of Loire. As a result of their attendance, Armenia’s booth attracted more visitors and press than ever before. This year’s travel fair had 500 exhibitors, over 26,000 visitors and 900 accredited media representatives.   

Vayots Dzor Tourism Development Center Partner In Wine Route Development Program

The Tourism Development Center of Vayots Dzor region has been nominated as the official Armenia representative of an international organization that is being founded with the purpose to develop a Wine Route within Black Sea countries. Such a decision was made at an expert meeting of the European Council’s Wine Culture Tourism Exchange (WCTE) pilot program on October 5, 2009 in the Armenian resort city of Jermuk.  The event had been organized with support from the Ministry of Economy, “Work and Motherland” NGO of Vayk, Vayots Dzor Tourism Development Center, the USAID-funded Competitive Armenian Private Sector (CAPS) Project, and the USDA-supported Center of Agribusiness and Rural Development (CARD) Project.

Marking the end of WCTE’s three-year pilot phase, which focused on the development of regional, trans-border, wine and tourism routes, and the promotion of peace and economic prosperity in the region, the meeting refocused the work of the WCTE program activity, to make it more relevant to the larger political developments in the Region and to agree on management structures and resources for future activities. The meeting was attended by Council of Europe experts, representatives of the WCTE, Armenian Government, the Black Sea Economic Cooperation Organization and local tourism industry.

Experts discussed the possibilities of creating an international organization that will take over the initiative to develop the Wine Route among Black Sea countries. France was suggested as the official location of the organization, and Vayots Dzor Tourism Development Center was proposed as the official representative of the organization in Armenia.

Today, wine tourism is fast growing in the international tourism industry, and Armenia has all necessary resources to take up its honorary place on Europe’s big Wine Route. Armenia’s active presence on the Wine Route will highlight the country from a completely new aspect for international travelers and will provide opportunities for development of tourism and related fields.   

Enhancing Visitor Experience at Major Tourist Attractions
Armenia’s Silk Road marked with Multilingual Information Panels and Signs

Fourteen attractive information boards mark around 550km of the Armenian passage of the renowned Silk Road that connected East and West through dozens of trade routes. The multilingual (Armenian, English, Russian, Italian, French) signs present visitors with the economic significance of Ancient Armenia and provide details on the history of the route.

The Silk Road signage is part of the “Armenian Monuments Awareness Program” being implemented by the AMAP NGO and the Ministry of Culture, and sponsored by the USAID-funded Competitive Armenian Private Sector (CAPS) Project, VivaCell-MTS, and the Honorary Consul for Italy in Gyumri. The initiative aims to enhance the awareness of major Armenian tourist attractions through the provision of prominent road signage, multilingual interpretation boards and printed materials.

The presentation of the Silk Road signage was held on October 15, at the Selim Pass Caravanserai; one of many overnight spots in Ancient Armenia for caravans laden with goods meant for markets in Europe and the Orient. Official speeches were followed by an impressive celebration. Participants included Indians, Greeks, Italians and representatives of other nations that have once played an important role on the Silk Road. Each of them performed a piece of their own culture to an audience of more than 300 people. At the end of the presentation the participants were served with traditional Armenian Harisa and wine. 

Talking at the official presentation of the Silk Road event, Artak Ghazaryan, CAPS Chief of Party, praised the collaborative efforts of the project implementers and expressed hope that it will serve an example for other successful public-private sector initiatives.

Since project inception in 2008, CAPS has helped to install over 300 information boards and directional signs at 21 monuments throughout the country.  

Special Guest Lecturer from Virginia Tech University Visits CAPS-Sponsored Tourism Lecturers’ Club

On September 28th, 2009, the seventh Tourism Lecturers’ Club was held at the Russian-Armenian (Slavonic) University, featuring a special guest lecture by Dr. Mahmood Khan from the Department of Hospitality and Tourism Management at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech) in the United States.  The Competitive Armenian Private Sector (CAPS) project initiated the Tourism Lecturers’ Club in early 2008 to enhance tourism and hospitality education in Armenia. The club provides an ongoing forum for discussion and knowledge transfer between tourism lecturers from Armenian educational institutions and CAPS international experts. The club’s informal atmosphere allows for an interactive discussion on a range of topics related to the hospitality and tourism industry, including: best practices, curriculum and industry news.

Dr. Khan’s guest lecture, organized in collaboration with the ‘Tourism Bridge’ Career Center established at Slavonic University by CAPS, covered a range of topics related to the tourism and hospitality industry, including factors driving the rapid growth of the industry worldwide, the key role of food service professionals, and the global demand for educational and professional development. Additionally, Dr. Khan provided insights on skills and knowledge transfer to tourism students, academic challenges faced in the sector, and current consumer and market trends in the industry.  The presentation sparked a lively discussion on the key enablers of excellence in the area of services and the current state of the global hospitality and tourism industry after the global financial crisis and economic downturn. 

Over thirteen lecturers from Slavonic University, Armenian Tourism Institute, Yerevan State Armenian-Greek College of Tourism, Service and Food Industry, Yerevan State University, and representatives of Zvartnots Airport and Armenian Tourism Development Agency, participated in the Tourism Lecturers’ Club.    

ServSafe – Essentials of Consistent Food Safety Certified Program on Food Safety Introduced in Yerevan  

“ServSafe: Essentials of Consistent Food Safety” certification program for representatives of Armenia’s food service industry opened on September 29 as a joint initiative between the USAID-funded Competitive Armenian Private Sector (CAPS)  Project, the American University of Armenia Extension Program, and the Armenian Restaurant Association. The three-day training course has been developed by the American National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation and covers five key areas:

• Basic Food Safety
• Personal Hygiene
• Cross-contamination & Allergens
• Time & Temperature
• Cleaning & Sanitation

The training course is designed to be of benefit to hotels, restaurants, catering services, supermarkets, government officials and educational institutions, and is being taught by Dr. Mahmood A. Khan, Ph.D., R.D., F.M. P., a Professor at the Department of Hospitality and Tourism Management at one of the most prestigious American educational institutions, Virginia Tech / Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. Mr. Khan has over 30 years of experience in this field.

An academic partnership between Virginia Tech and some of Armenia’s educational institutions was established earlier this year when, on the initiative of the CAPS Project, the professor first visited Armenia to conduct an assessment of specific program needs. In the framework of this and a later visit in April, Dr. Khan introduced several Armenian universities to leading edge curricula, offering modern teaching methods and approaches, as well as conducting training courses on Food Safety and Marketing/Sales for the Armenian hospitality industry representatives.

“The availability of an effective food safety system and qualified workforce is essential for restaurants and catering services. By supporting this and similar initiatives we try to assist hospitality companies improve the quality of their services and staff knowledge.” Anush Shahverdyan, CAPS Workforce Development Specialist said. “The training course will be followed by an exam to allow participants to qualify as internationally certified trainers.”  
  

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