The launch of three manuals developed and published in the scope of the Dilijan and Adjacent Communities Development Initiative project has taken place today at Dilijan Municipality.

The project is implemented since 2017 by the IDeA Foundation with co-funding by the European Union and Armenian Ministry of Territorial Administration and Development.

The project aims to increase tourist attractiveness of Dilijan and adjacent communities (including Hovk, Aghavnavank, Khachardzan, Gosh, Haghartsin and Teghut) and increase the number of tourists to the region, thus boosting local economies and creating new employment opportunities in the region.

Within the framework of the initiative, from this year onwards the implementing partners - IDeA
Foundation and the BSC Business Support Center - will organize capacity building and strengthening courses in tourism, hospitality, arts and crafts for residents of Dilijan and adjacent communities.

“First and foremost, the project aims to support community development by creating new jobs.
The capacity building courses currently underway in Dilijan serve this very purpose. These courses are organized by our partner company BSC Business Support Center. Within the framework of the courses, it is planned to train around 330 participants, and the best among them will be provided job placement assistance,” said Tatevik Sargsyan, Project Manager of Dilijan and Adjacent Communities Development Initiative.

Over 100 people from Dilijan and adjacent communities have already participated in capacity development courses in the tourism and hospitality industries. They were invited to attend the event held at the Dilijan Municipality, during which they were given newly released manual-guides for free, such as Starting and Managing a Guesthouse Business, Guest Service in the Hospitality Industry and Guesthouse Service Improvement Forms and Checklists.

The three guides are available for free at the Dilijan Community Center.

“Course participants that aim to start their own business or already have small and medium enterprises can also participate in the business management courses and design or develop new business programs with specialized consultancy support. We believe that these manual-guides will help enhance the quality of service that organizations and individuals operating in the hospitality and tourism industries provide to visitors, thus developing their business initiatives,” said BSC Director Samvel Gevorgyan.

During the event, the course participants and guests also became familiar with the procedure and terms for the sub-grants competition announced earlier within the framework of the Dilijan and Adjacent Communities Development Initiative.

The sub-grants program plans to render financial assistance to boost entrepreneurial activity and create new jobs in Dilijan and adjacent communities - Hovk, Aghavnavank, Khachardsan, Gosh, Haghartsin and Teghut.

The program will foster the economic development of Tavush marz, Dilijan Community in particular, and will bring to migration reduction. The program plans to provide 20 sub-grants that will contribute to creating sustainable jobs.

During the event, Dilijan Mayor Armen Santrosyan noted that Dilijan has enormous tourism potential and IDeA’s project is highly important to explore and realize that potential.