Armenian communities to have opportunity to become ‘Best Tourism Villages’ by UNWTO initiative
08:58, 1 July, 2021YEREVAN, JULY 1, ARMENPRESS. The names of three Armenian villages nominated for the “Best Tourism Villages” program by the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) will be announced in July.
The Tourism Committee of Armenia has already completed the application collecting process, and now the assessment stage is underway.
Public Relations and Digital Marketing Expert at the Tourism Committee Gayane Ayvazyan told Armenpress that a total of 76 applications have been received. More villages were nominated from Aragatsotn, Gegharkunik, Lori, Kotayk and Shirak provinces.
The program requirements are the followings: the village population must not surpass 15,000, the village must be known for any type of economic activity – agriculture, animal husbandry, fishing, etc, and the village must have unique tourism offers or lifestyle.
“There was quite a big interest, we were receiving many calls and letters. 76 applications were received, some of which are repeated. Individuals could also submit applications. Why we did so? Because we wanted to see what villages exist, because very often applying only to specialists, we could miss interesting villages. It’s a very good opportunity for us to engage different people and get offers from them”, Gayane Ayvazyan said.
All villages will be examined with all their opportunities, and three of them will be selected. After that the UNWTO will select the best village. All member states of the Organization can nominate villages.
The initiative includes three pillars:
“I want to note that this is a continuous program, therefore, new villages can be nominated in coming years. It’s possible to work on the development of that villages within a year and again nominate them”, Gayane Ayvazyan said, adding that there are opportunities of implementing different projects and works for development of villages.
Interview by Anna Gziryan
Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan
© 2009 ARMENPRESS.am