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Within the first six months of 2017, a total of 1 million 350 thousand 791 inbound visits were recorded in Armenia, showing a 24.3% increase to compare with the indicated period of 2016, Zarmine Zeytuntsyan, Chairperson of the State Committee for Tourism, told a news conference on Wednesday, citing the figures provided by the border checkpoints.

Reflecting on the tourist arrivals, Ms. Zeytuntsyan noted that during the first quarter of 2017, 298 thousand 533 tourists visited Armenia, with a growth of 18.2% as compared to the indicated period of 2016. “This is a record high figure for us, however we pursue a goal to double the tourist arrivals into Armenia,” the chairperson noted.

According to her, the top source countries of foreign tourist arrivals in Armenia feature Russia, Georgia and Iran. The tourist flows in Armenia from Turkmenistan (132%), Uzbekistan (200%), as well as Iraq, Canada and Spain have also increased.

Zarmine Zeytuntsyan also informed that in June 2017, the number of tourists grew by 27.7% as compared to the indicated period of the previous year.

“Starting from October, we have marked the primary target markets we are working with – the domestic market, Russia, Iran, those Western European countries, with which Armenia operates direct flights, Germany and Persian Gulf countries,” she said, adding that they are also studying other markets such as China and Japan.

Speaking about the decision allowing the Russian citizens to arrive in Armenia with their internal passports, Zarmine Zeytuntsyan said that over 8000 citizens have already travelled to Armenia with the Russian internal passports. To remind, the mentioned decision entered into force on 23 February 2017.