At a press conference convened by the government, the chair of the State Tourism Committee, Susanna Safaryan, addressed the losses recorded in the tourism sector.
“The losses have not been recorded in aggregate terms, but in the first quarter there has already been a considerable decline in tourist visits. In quantitative terms, I can say that around 175,000 tourists did not visit Armenia during the first quarter. That is a considerable loss for the sector, considering that the first quarter was not yet the most active tourism period, and during that time the borders were still open. The second quarter could be worse, because the borders are closed, flights are not operating, and there will be almost no tourist visits. That means that the tourism revenues that were projected will not materialise. I cannot yet say what financial losses we are talking about, but if we calculate by the value attributed to one tourist, in the first quarter that amounted to 175,000 times 770 US dollars. That is the average expenditure of one tourist in Armenia,” said Safaryan.
She also addressed the question that some companies in the sector have begun the process of liquidation, and the main reason is the tax burden.
“Our communication with various tourism organisations has shown that the main expenses they have at the moment are their utility costs, employee salaries and tax obligations. For this reason, the government’s support toolkit covers those needs to a certain extent. I am not saying entirely, because there are still tourism establishments that are not addressed by these programmes, but they will be,” said Safaryan. As for liquidation, she said that many have made verbal declarations, and if the situation is not corrected, it is possible that they will resort to such steps, but there is as yet no inventory on this matter.
