Yerevan /Mediamax/. Head of Tourism Department of Armenian Ministry of Economy## Mekhak Apresyan stated in an interview to Mediamax that the events of March 1-2 in Yerevan had their influence on the tourism sphere; however the negative consequences were overcome in the shortest periods of time.

As Mekhak Apresyan stated, Armenia is famous for its “good name” among foreign tourists, and the tourism inactivity, conditioned by the tragic events in Yerevan in early spring, continued for only 1.5 months. In 2008, the Ministry of Economy forecasts 20% growth of tourist visits to Armenia.

Head of the “Barev Barekam” Center for Tourist Journeys Armine Martirosyan stated in an interview to Mediamax that the losses of tourism industry in Armenia because of destabilization of the situation made about 50-60%, since many previously booked tourist visits were cancelled.

General Director of “Avarayr Adventure Tour” Arkady Sahakyan expressed disagreement in an interview to Mediamax concerning the opinion that the political situation in Armenia has influenced the number of tourist visits. According to him, all the problems of tourism industry are of mere economic character and the state should admit that by its actions, in particular, by the increase of the price for entry visas, it artificially increased the cost of tourist packages to Armenia.

Mekhak Apresyan stated in an interview to Mediamax that the Armenian government takes up steps to systematize the price formation in the sphere of tourism, one of which is the classification of the hotel business. According to him, 6 Armenian hotels have undergone the corresponding classification.

General Director of “Avarayr Adventure Tour”, in his turn, called attention to the fact that there are no tourist class hotels in Armenia, and the existing hotels have established high prices, which “scare off the guests”.

Director of the Tour Company expressed opinion that the state should take direct participation in the hotel business, allocating lands in tender order for construction of hotels of medium class and preserving the right for regulation of the tariffs.

Arkady Sahakyan noted that the main contingent of visitors to Armenia represents the middle class from European and Asian countries, which will in the nearest future prefer the informative tourism of Turkey, where the prices for this type of vacation continually fall, and the level of service grows.

According to him, this year the growth of tourist visits to Armenia will make no more than 5%, and in 2009, a crisis period will begin for the Armenian tourism industry.

Answering the question on whether the company cooperates with the Ministry of Economy to improve the situation in the sphere of tourism, Arkady Sahakyan stated that in the course of the recent 8 years tourist companies have been repeatedly presenting their proposals to the Ministry; however the structure did not take into account the opinion of the market participants.