As a result of the military aggression unleashed by Azerbaijan against Armenia, the tourism sector has faced serious problems. President of the Armenian Tourism Federation Mekhak Apresyan noted at a press conference in the press-room of "Armenpress" that some tourist centers were targets during the hostilities. Although today the border is relatively calm, these tourism centers are still not working.

“Jermuk, which is one of the tourist centers announced by the RA government, is in a difficult situation today. Other communities that have been attacked are also in the same condition. As you know, many infrastructure facilities are physically damaged, moreover, there are no tourist visits there nowdays. Sanatoriums of Jermuk and other institutions providing tourist services do not function today," Mekhak Apresyan said.

According to the specialist, these and other similar tourist centers have faced such a problem that they may lose their jobs. If workers in an industry remain unemployed for a long time and try to find work in other industries, the loss of specialists will come very soon. Then it will be very difficult to fill this gap.

Mekhak Apresyan proposes that the state and the private sector discuss together how tourism can be preserved in the affected areas and develop a program of measures in this direction.

Due to tensions at the border, companies offering tours have revised their work, making changes to the structure of tour packages.

“During this period, there are also certain changes in the direction of inbound tourism. In particular, as we have seen, in Russia there was a large flow to Armenia due to mobilization. On the one hand, this is good, a large number of citizens come, however, on the other hand, there was an increase in ticket prices, which deterred actual tourists,” Mekhak Apresyan said.

The specialist noted that since 2020, the tourism sector has been hit, first there was a pandemic, then a 44-day war. After that, great efforts were made to restore, activate the sphere, which was successful. In January-August 2022, more than 1 million tourists arrived in Armenia. According to this indicator, the country is gradually approaching the data for 2019. To maintain the overall pace, Mekhak Apresyan proposes active work by the public-private sector in various areas: assessment of the situation, flexible response, reorganization of work, development of support programs, etc.