Arthur and Naira are leaving for Egypt in 3 days. This year they decided to spend their winter vacation in Sharm-el-Sheikh. This is the second year that this family prefers to have rest abroad and not in any of the resort areas of Armenia.
“For me it’s nonsense to spend vacation in Armenia. The service here annoys instead of relaxing. In my case I exclude resting in Armenia,” says 42-year-old Arthur.
He mentions that he and his wife decided to go to Egypt because the trip is very convenient from the price point of view. “The relatively cheapest variants are either Turkey or Egypt. This time I chose Egypt,” says Arthur.
The employee of the “Dubai” tour agency says that in winter a lot of people prefer going to Egypt or the United Arab Emirates because there is no problem to obtain a visa for these countries, and there are charter flights from Yerevan. According to the same source, often it’s even cheaper to spend holidays in the mentioned countries than in Armenia.
For instance, an 11-day vacation in Egypt in a four-star hotel including the food twice a day costs 141,000 AMD (about $385).
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Arthur and Naira are leaving for Egypt in 3 days. This year they decided to spend their winter vacation in Sharm-el-Sheikh. This is the second year that this family prefers to have rest abroad and not in any of the resort areas of Armenia.
“For me it’s nonsense to spend vacation in Armenia. The service here annoys instead of relaxing. In my case I exclude resting in Armenia,” says 42-year-old Arthur.
He mentions that he and his wife decided to go to Egypt because the trip is very convenient from the price point of view. “The relatively cheapest variants are either Turkey or Egypt. This time I chose Egypt,” says Arthur.
The employee of the “Dubai” tour agency says that in winter a lot of people prefer going to Egypt or the United Arab Emirates because there is no problem to obtain a visa for these countries, and there are charter flights from Yerevan. According to the same source, often it’s even cheaper to spend holidays in the mentioned countries than in Armenia.
For instance, an 11-day vacation in Egypt in a four-star hotel including the food twice a day costs 141,000 AMD (about $385).
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For comparison, in Tsakhkadzor’s “Kecharis” hotel on non-holidays a single bed with only breakfast costs 25,000 drams (about $70). In case of ordering dinner and supper one should pay 31,000 drams (about $85). That is, if you want to rest in Armenia and eat properly you have to pay twice much than in Egypt.
There are packages consistent with the Egyptian ones in the Armenian resort complexes but only out of season. For example, the “Impuls” complex in Dilijan offers a single bed with three times’ food by 14,000 AMD (about $40). Resting in Jermuk is about $30 per day, and in Aghveran about $20.
These prices are abruptly changed on holidays. For example, starting from December 31 to January 5, the prices are doubled in Jermuk. To spend the New Year night and to stay in “Kecharis” hotel until January 5 is 200,000 drams (about $500).
The tour agents say that the vacation in Dubai or in Egypt costs the same as in Armenia, at the same time mentioning that there are almost no vacant rooms in the hotels of Armenia during the New Year holidays. The reservations start from November and the clients are not only from Armenia but also from Ukraine and Russia.
Leading expert of the Department of Tourism of the RA Ministry of Economy Arthur Lalayan says that there are strategic plans to extend the tourism season and to develop winter tourism in Armenia. “Works are carried out to make Tsakhkadzor and Jermuk as winter tourism centers,” he says.
The program of turning Tsakhkadzor into a tourism center started in 2005, in frames of which a ropeway was constructed, and the marketing programs have continuous character. The development strategy of Jermuk was worked out in 2009. Here it is planned also to develop skiing.
Nvard Hovhannisyan studies at Georgian Institute of Public Affairs.
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