Epress.am News from Armenia
Ecotourism in the entire world reveals interesting natural areas, preserves them and through them, develops tourism and secures funds. In Armenia, of course, everything is not as it’s accepted in the rest of the world. There’s no ecotourism in Armenia, the experts are convinced.
Armenian Ecotourism Association (ARMECAS) NGO President Janna Galyan came to ecotourism from adventure tourism, knows Armenia’s natural environment very well, and says that there are many opportunities for ecotourism to develop in Armenia.
“We must understand what [physical] areas we have to develop ecotourism and not put the emphasis only on developing business, since if we only give impact to becoming wealthy at the expense of those areas, soon there’ll be nothing left of that natural environment. You can’t pollute the spring from where drinking water is acquired,” said Galyan, while meeting with journalists today.
According to Union of Incoming Tour Operators member Edward Gevorgyan, it’s important that ecotourism leaves no traces in nature: this is a widely accepted principle worldwide. If such principles were introduced to the Armenian environment, then more favorable conditions for developing this type of tourism in Armenia would be created.
Ecotourism is understood in Armenia mainly in one way, believe experts: it rarely goes further than eating a meal in natural surroundings.
The National Competitiveness Foundation of Armenia (NCFA) has selected a few priorities for developing ecotourism in Armenia — southern and northern corridors that correspond with Armenia’s southern and northern regions, a regional corridor that includes the area around Lake Sevan, a central corridor, as well as Yerevan and its surroundings.
According to NCFA Outreach Manager Zara Amatuni, there are so many interesting sites in this area, and if we can uncover them and present them as they are, then the flow of tourists to Armenia would increase exponentially.
A very important stimulus for developing ecotourism in Armenia can also be the development of village tourism.
This, in Amatuni’s words, is a very serious problem, since there aren’t any programs or advertising spots — ways to outreach to tourists.
Currently, NCFA is attempting to revive the cuisine of villages surrounding Tatev Monastery, since a huge influx of tourists are expected for the opening of the aerial tramway, and the project aims at getting tourists to stay for longer periods of time.