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The official presentation of “Promoting Innovative Rural Tourism” (PIRT) project to RA Government Authorities and other stakeholders was held on 27 February in Erebuni Plaza Business Center. The event was organized by Heifer Armenia with the support of the European Union, the press service of Heifer Armenia reports.

During the project presentation, Heifer Armenia Country Director Ms Anahit Ghazanchyan said that the PIRT project is a new and unique approach in fostering the tourism development at the regional level.

“The project will achieve stronger regional partnerships and cooperation through integrated utilization of physical and human resources and exchange of best practice aimed at enhancing the standards of touristic product and service delivery”, said Ms Ghazanchyan.

Anahit Ghazanchyan presented that the partnership works on three levels. “First of all we work with local service providers, train and enhance their skills in value chains, marketing, business plan writing, management and running their business after which establish the regional network of local service providers,” she said. “On the next level we select productive travel agencies to work with the local service providers, to co-develop a Single Cross-border Visitor package which will be marketed to attract and bring tourists to the Black Sea Basin Region” Ms Ghazanchyan explained. “Finally on the third level we reach the educational institutions to enhance the curriculum of tourism studies through investing the regional tourism attractiveness approach and to scale up the importance of fostering incoming regional tourism”, Ms Ghazanchyan informed.

Heifer Armenia Country Director stressed that on the third level the project will also reach the Governments within the country and on the regional level to make the cooperation stronger and more effective. She believed that the project will tangibly contribute to economic and social development of Armenia and other countries in the Black Sea Basin region.

The PIRT project is directed to supporting regional cooperation and cross border partnerships for economic and social development in four Black Sea Basin countries (Armenia, Bulgaria, Turkey, Georgia) based on combined resources through creation of rural tourism networks in order to promote joint tourism development initiatives and traditional products.

In the framework of the project a network of trained and capable local service providers in rural tourism and travel agencies will be established which will develop and sell a unique touristic product Single Cross-border Visitor package (SCBV package). The SCBV package will increase the inter-flows of visitors on the regional level and contribute to unprecedented cooperation between national authorities in the region and intra-country, aimed ultimately to sustaining the cross-border impacts of rural tourism.

Officials from RA Ministries of Economy, Agriculture, Foreign Affairs, Culture, Diaspora, Sports and Youth Affairs as well as representatives from international organizations in Armenia attended the event.

PIRT is co-financed by the European Union in the amount of 472,923.43 EURO through the European Neighborhood and Partnership Instrument. The project began in November 2013 and its duration is 18 months.