YEREVAN. – Around 8-10-percent more tourists are expected to visit Armenia in 2012, Deputy Economy Minister Ara Petrosyan stated during a press conference on Monday. 

He informed, however, that close to 10,000 less Iranian tourists visited the country in the first three months of this year, as compared with the same time period last year. And the reason was because the Iranian authorities allowed those Iranians, who were heading abroad, to exchange solely up to US$ 400 at the official exchange rate, and therefore the remaining amounts had to be exchanged at the market rate, which is several times higher than the official rate.    

But Petrosyan assured that those Iranian citizens, who did not visit Armenia during their Nowruz (New Year) holiday, definitely visit the country over the course of the year, and therefore there will not be a reduction in tourists to the country on a yearly basis.       

According to official statistics, about 105,000 tourists visited Armenia in January-March 2012, which is 9 percent less than the same time period in the year past.