Serzh Sargsyan: Visa-free regime with Iran gave a powerful stimulus  to the growth of the number of Iranian tourists to Armenia

ArmInfo.The visa-free regime introduced between Armenia and Iran gave a powerful stimulus to the growth of the number of Iranian tourists in Armenia. This was stated 

by Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan in an interview with the leading 

Iranian newspaper "Sharh".

According to the President of the Republic, the Armenian side 

attaches importance to the abolition of the visa regime between the 

countries, which has a positive impact on the expansion of business 

ties, stimulation of economic and investment relations, and the 

growth of the tourist flow. "In today's world, bridges need to be 

built instead of barriers," Iranian President Hasan Rukhani said. 

, Serzh Sargsyan, quoted his colleague as saying. "In my opinion, the 

decision to abolish the visa regime is a new bridge of friendship 

between the peoples of our countries," he said.As stated by Serzh 

Sargsyan, according to observations, after the abolition of the visa 

regime, a sharp increase in the number of Iranian tourists was 

registered. At this stage, according to the head of the Armenian 

state, tourism products are formed in Armenia, corresponding to the 

preferences of the Iranian tourist. At the same time, as the 

president noted, Armenia is consistently developing the sphere. 

"We are making serious efforts to increase the attractiveness of our 

country for tourists," Sargsyan said. In particular, steps are being 

taken to create additional infrastructures, improve the quality of 

tourist services, and present the rich historical and cultural 

heritage of the Armenian nation. Work is also being done to increase 

international flights to Armenia. "Armenia has a representative 

culture, a high level of security, its people are hardworking and 

hospitable, which is included in the list of competitive advantages 

of the republic and in tourism," the head of state said.It should be 

noted that Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan will leave for a working 

visit to Tehran on August 5 to participate in the inauguration 

ceremony of the re- elected Iranian President Hassan Ruhani.

The number of visits of foreign citizens to Armenia in the first half 

of this year exceeded 1.3 million, which is more than the annual 

indicator by 24.3%. In TOP-3, the number of entries to Armenia 

included citizens of Russia, Georgia and Iran. At the same time, 

during the reporting period the number of visits by Russian citizens 

increased by 33.7% to 241 thousand. The second place was strengthened 

for the citizens of Georgia, the number of visits exceeded 151 

thousand, with an increase of 11% per annum.

 And Iran is topping the top three with 89.8 thousand visits, which 

is 27.4% more than last year. In particular, in the TOP-10 entered 

also the entrances of US citizens (17.5 thousand), Ukraine (12.7 

thousand), the Philippines (10.9 thousand), Germany (7.8 thousand), 

France (7.6 thousand), India (4.3 thousand .) And Poland (4.3 

thousand). As the target markets in terms of attracting tourists, the 

State Committee considers the Russian Federation, the Islamic 

Republic of Iran, the countries of the Persian Gulf and Western 

Europe, with which Armenia has direct flights. According to the 

government program until 2020, Armenia intends to annually visit 

about 3 million tourists.