TOP-5 by number of tourists visiting Armenia included Russia,  Georgia, Iran, the USA and Ukraine

ArmInfo. During the first 9 months of 2018, 1,275,209 tourists visited Armenia, which is 8.8% more than a year ago. The head of the State Committee on Tourism of  the Ministry of Economic Development and Investments of the Republic  of Armenia Hripsime Grigoryan said this on December 26 at a press  conference.

"To a certain extent, the revolutionary events in the country had a  positive efficient on the dynamics, which also coincided with the  seasonality factor. After all, it was during this period that we  recorded high rates of tourism," she said.

According to her, in the TOP-5 countries, where the highest rates on  tourist visits included mostly neighboring countries. In particular,  Russia traditionally holds the leading position - 525,423 tourists,  followed by Georgia - 233,125 tourists, Iran - 132,829, with a margin  followed by the USA - 46,138 and closes the top five Ukraine - 24,308  tourists.

At the same time, the head of the State Committee named the countries  that demonstrated the highest growth in percentage terms. This is  India; the growth of tourist visits for citizens of Russia was 131%,  China - an increase of 107%, and Kazakhstan - an increase of 83%. In  this vein, the head of the state committee noted that she connects  high expectations with 2019. "Next year we will have higher  percentages thanks to the work done today," she assured.

Answering the question of ArmInfo, H. Grigoryan noted that the target  markets will remain the same, denoting Russia, Iran, the countries of  the Persian Gulf, China, India in this vein, she named the United  States as a new direction, and Japan in terms of long-term prospects.  "Our vision is this: we prefer to have a limited number of target  markets, where a huge amount of work has been carried out over the  years. In particular, in terms of increasing awareness, credibility,  dissemination of information and proposals, where we can, by spending  financial resources, get substantial results. In other words, to  spend money on those markets where the statistician testifies to the  high tourist potential of the country, "she explained.

Summing up, the head of the State Committee noted: "We will  confidently continue to position ourselves in the international arena  as a safe country, adding to this such definitions as attractive,  interesting and preferred."