YEREVAN. – A total of 608,100 people from Armenia have headed abroad for tourism purposes in January-September 2012, which is 11.4 percent more than the same time period last year, Deputy Economy Minister Ara Petrosyan said during a press conference on Tuesday. To note, 603,000 tourists arrived in Armenia in January-September 2012. 

According to the Deputy Minister, 60,000-70,000 tourists from Armenia head to Georgia’s Autonomous Republic of Adjara—on the Black Sea Coast—on an annual basis, and this year’s growth is 13-14 percent. “The growth in outgoing tourism is pleasing because [this means] the country’s middle class is becoming solvent,” Petrosyan stated.      

He informed that the authorities of some countries encourage outgoing tourism, since this contributes to economic growth in the long-run. “The Armenians have always had the habit of going to the Black Sea with their family. [Armenia’s Lake] Sevan and the sea are completely different ecosystems, they have different health [resort] opportunities,” Ara Petrosyan noted. But he also added that domestic tourism visits to Armenia’s health resort cities of Jermuk, Aghveran, and Tsaghkadzor likewise have increased by 13-14 percent.