How to preserve tourist business on the border
Tourism in Armenia is gradually recovering despite the unstable situation on the border with Azerbaijan. The first serious blow to the tourist business was the coronavirus pandemic and the Karabakh war of 2020. Then followed the military escalation in 2022, which is popularly called the “September war”.
Many local residents, after the advance of Azerbaijani troops deep into the territory of Armenia, lost the opportunity to engage in agriculture and animal husbandry. People cannot work in their gardens – just a few meters from the Azerbaijani military positions, they have lost their pastures. Due to the prevailing circumstances, residents of the border regions are forced to look for other opportunities to earn a living and pin their hopes on tourism, in particular those who founded guest houses based on the interest of tourists in Armenia after the “Velvet Revolution” of 2018.
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Since last year, tourism workers in the border regions of Syunik, Vayots Dzor and Gegharkunik have been trying to find alternative ways to preserve and develop their business. Together they develop new offers for tourists.
According to Hasmik Azoyan, director of the Basen Hotel in the city of Sisian, Syunik region, sharp fluctuations in tourist flows in recent years have significantly affected the efficiency of work. The tumultuous 2019 tourism season was followed first by a pandemic, then by a 44-day war. The 2021 tourist season, along with the recovery trend, differed from previous ones in the change in the approach of visitors.
“If before we were visited by groups of 20-30 people and much less often traveling alone, then after 2021 the situation has changed. People began to travel mainly with families, small groups of friends or alone,” she says.
Before the cross-border tourism business adapted to this new trend, the events of September 2022 took place; business owners suffered big losses, as tourists simply stopped going there.
“Many tour operators avoid trips to Syunik or organize one-day tours. They come to Tatev [Tatev monastery complex of the late 9th – early 10th centuries] and return the same evening. Such tours do not generate economic results for Syunik. This over-caution or fear is totally misplaced. It kind of offends even us, because we live here with our children,” Hasmik Azoyan says.
Nature of Syunik
Difficulties forced the residents of the borderlands to be more flexible to try to find methods to save their business.
This year they intend to offer the guests of Syunik a new tourist experience — agritourism. They have already created a 500 square meter orchard next to one of the local hotels.
“Currently, there is only one extraordinary tourist offer in our community – master classes in the creation of ceramic products. And now the tourists coming to Sisian will also have an offer to get the experience of agritourism. They will be able to walk in the garden, the guide will talk about the history and benefits of crops. Tourists will be able to pick berries and fruits themselves, cook something to their taste or take the harvested crop with them,” explains the project manager.
Hiking, adventure and cultural tours are also organized in Syunik. Hasmik Azoyan says that the agritourism offer was invented for those who are unlikely to be interested in it:
“Especially for domestic tourists, adventure tours and hiking are not very interesting. They also do not attract young families who come to rest with children. And agro-tourism is not only convenient and safe for children, but will also provide an opportunity to connect children with nature.”
This project as a final product was designed as a result of surveys conducted among the target groups. The authors say that the interest shown by survey participants gives reason to expect practical results in a short time. It is believed that this program will attract many people to Sisian, and this will help revitalize the life of the city, even economic growth.
Azoyan emphasizes that now, more than ever, the border regions need new projects and new tourism initiatives.
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Several tourism projects are also being launched in Vayots Dzor. In particular, in the village of Aghavnavank, the NGO ONEArmenia and local winemakers intend to launch the tourism project “Senses”.
“Senses will be housed in a building with interesting architectural and innovative solutions. Winemakers will have the opportunity to organize a tasting of their own wines here. In the long term, we strive to have an environment that allows people to activate all their senses: taste, smell, sight and other senses. That is why we named the project Senses,” says Anahit Nazaryan, representative of the NGO ONEArmenia in Yerevan.
Wine tour in Vayots Dzor region. Photo from ONEArmenia website
As planned by the authors, in the future this place will serve as a hub for wine producers, and winemakers producing small volumes of wines will be able to present their products here.
According to Anahit Nazaryan, the implementation of tourism projects in the border area of Vayots Dzor is as risky as the life of the locals:
“As long as people live there, we will continue projects in these regions. Of course, there were days when we postponed or canceled a visit to the border area due to tensions at the border. But this is not a reason for us to refuse to implement programs here. On the contrary, these projects should be used as a method of highlighting the situation and familiarizing tourists with it.”
These projects are being implemented thanks to grants announced by the Armenian Tourism Committee, that is, state assistance and own investments.
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Experts in the field of tourism expect real steps that would contribute to the intensification of tourist flows to the border regions. They hope for assistance not only from the state, but also from the media, representatives of the tourism business from other regions of the country, and travel agencies. They expect help from everyone who will simply come to the border as a visitor and thus support local residents, contributing to the restoration of tourist flows by personal example.
“The border areas now need various promotional campaigns. It will be great if government agencies organize meetings and conferences here. For example, there may be visiting meetings of the government, visiting meetings of parties. Representatives of the state administration, by their example, should stimulate visits to the border regions,” Hasmik Azoyan believes.
Anahit Nazaryan believes that in order to stimulate tourist flows in this direction, the state must, first of all, strengthen the security of the borders and the country as a whole:
“Whatever project is implemented, if people do not have a sense of their own security, they will not go to the border for something tasty or beautiful. All problems can be solved solely by ensuring security at the border.”
Traveling in Armenia by car. Photo from ONEArmenia website
President of the Tourism Federation of Armenia Mekhak Apresyan warned about the risks for tourism that may arise in the border areas last year:
“Fortunately, despite the risks, tourism in these areas has not completely collapsed, but it should not be just a surviving business. Government support programs and policies are certainly important, but we must be aware of the role of the private sector as well. We must join hands, support each other, carry out processes together. Only then can we succeed.”
He suggests that now, when post-war Armenia is ranked among not the safest countries, try to present it in a different way, organizing, among other things, various festivals:
“Thanks to the unprecedented amount of 1 billion drams ($2.6 million) allocated by the government this year for the tourism sector, thanks to the variety of events held, we can subtly approach the issue, show the world the real picture. We can show that Armenia is a country worth visiting. In order to ensure maximum results, this must be done in conjunction with foreign media publications. It is necessary to organize study visits and combine them with major international events.”
-the-border/