The numbers of Armenians choosing the Georgian Black Sea coast of Kobuleti, Ureki and Batumi as holiday locations for the past few years continues to have an effect on Armenian tourism.

The number of Armenian citizens who spent their summer vacations in Georgia in 2007 ranged between 40,000 and 50,000 as compared to 30,000-40,000 a year earlier.

The reason, say representatives of travel agencies, is that it is cheaper to stay on the Black Sea coast than to vacation on Lake Sevan or other popular Armenian destinations.

Armine Karapetyan, 24, who looks forward to her vacation, says she will once again travel to the Georgian Black Sea resorts, because despite she was not quite satisfied with the services in Kobuleti some three years ago as well as some increase in prices there, they are still lower than those offered in Armenia.

“Holidays in Georgia are not safe as one’s things may be stolen any moment, the infrastructure is not developed, there is no proper place to get food, neither there is a hospital, but I am forced to spend my vacation there this year again,” she says. “The prices for services in Armenia, say in Sevan, are several times higher than on the sea shore, like, say Kobuleti. One has to live according to his means, right?”

Rest per person in a renovated resort in Tsakhkadzor today costs 20,000 drams (about $66) and above per day; the prices in Sevan are even higher. To compare – a 7-day trip to Kobuleti per person starts at 34,000 drams (about $112).

Mekhak Apresyan, head of the tourism development department at the Armenia Ministry of Economics does not deny the prices in Armenia are high but suggests an explanation.

“We have a problem of prolonging the tourism season in Armenia. In Sevan, for instance, the resorts operate for only 2-3 months a year. That is why the set prices are higher to provide profits in that short period of time,” Apresyan says adding the prices should be competitive rather than cheap.

Apresyan also insists the rest and travel in Yerevan is inexpensive as compared to the European prices. But neither are the accommodations the same as might be expected.

“I can say the prices here are not high as compared to the European ones. A 3-star hotel in Paris, for instance, is higher for half of the price in Yerevan,” says Apresyan somewhat scoring the chairman of domestic travel agents of Armenia Robert Minasyan, who believes the comparison quite improper.

Simply: Comparing Paris to Yerevan is hardly within consideration.

Minasyan says despite the state’s efforts in the sphere of tourism, the prices remain illogical.

“The prices in Armenia are groundless,” says Minasyan. “Neither the services have grown in number, nor their quality, neither the human resources have become more professional. But the prices grow,” says Minasyan recalling a case that has become a customary matter.

“We were in Tsakhkadzor last week. We asked the waiter for coffee. The waiter brought it and put in on the table. Stretching over the head of my neighbor,the coffee would be spilled on that person if he moved by chance,” Minasyan complains confident the minor level of services is another reason keeping foreign tourists back from traveling to Armenia.

Despite Apresyan accepts shortcomings in the sphere, he, however disagrees with the statement that the number of tourists has dropped pointing to the figures witnessing its growth.

The number of tourists arriving in Armenia is 500,000 to 550,000 today as compared to 45,000-50,000 in 2000. (83,000 tourists have visited Armenia during the first quarter of 2008 – 15 percent more as compared to the same period of time last year.)

Tourists of Armenian descent make about 60 percent of the total number.

“We have tourists from all over the world – Russia, the US, Iran, Georgia and countries of the European Union. We have even had those from Turkey, Hong Kong and Taiwan this year,” mentions Apresyan.

He says progress in hotel construction has also facilitated the development of tourism industry as the number of hotels complying with the international standards has grown.

The official figures say there are about 70 high class hotels in Armenia with more than 10,000 beds, plus the hostels, B&Bs, motels and inns.

“In 2000 the hotels could be counted on fingers,” Apresyan continues adding inflows into the economics of the country grow along with the number of tourists.

“We have calculated a tourist in Armenia spends an average of 7 to 10 days spending at least $1,000. As their number grows the total amount of income has reached $400 million in 2007 as compared to $299 million in 2006,” underlines Apresyan expressing hope for better results by the end of the year.