Pashinyan: Armenia has become the most popular tourist destination  for Russians on New Year holidays

ArmInfo.. During the New Year holidays, the influx of Russian tourists to Armenia will increase by 76% compared with last year, Acting Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol  Pashinyan wrote on his page on Facebook.

Earlier, the newspaper "Izvestia", citing data from the agency  OZON.travel, reported that Armenia ranks first among foreign  countries among Russians - this year the demand for it, compared with  2017, increased by 76%. According to experts, a reduction in the cost  of tickets by 12% as well as relatively inexpensive accommodation and  service within the country, have made their impact. According to the  acting head of the Armenian government, an increase in the influx of  Russian tourists to Armenia on New Year's holidays, compared to last  year, will be a good chance for local entrepreneurs to contribute to  the economic revolution. "This is, of course, a chance for many  Armenian businessmen to realize their part of the economic revolution  and create solid foundations for a more powerful tourist boom in the  summer," Pashinyan said.

To note, the New Year holidays in Russia will last ten days - from  December 30 to January 8, 2019 inclusive. At the same time, in 2018  the number of tourist trips of Russians to Armenia has already  increased by 17%. This is evidenced by the ranking of countries in  attendance by Russian tourists in 2018, prepared by the analytical  agency TourStat. According to the source, the rating was compiled on  the basis of the analysis of statistics of outbound tourist trips  from Russia for the first 9 months of 2018. The number of Russian  tours to Armenia increased to 327 thousand in the first 9 months of  2018 compared to last year.  Thus, Armenia was in the top 25  countries among Russian tourists. According to TourStat, the top ten  countries popular with Russian tourists for the number of outbound  tourist trips from Russia for the first 9 months in 2018 included  Turkey (4.907 thousand trips), Abkhazia (3.621 thousand), Finland  (2.498 thousand), Kazakhstan (2,310 thousand), Ukraine (1,793  thousand), China (1,449 thousand), Estonia (1,343 thousand), Georgia  (979 thousand), Germany (950 thousand) and Italy (849 thousand). The  total number of outbound tourist trips from Russia abroad compared to  last year increased by 6% to 32.9 million for the first 9 months of  2018.