According to The Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Report 2013, Armenia is ranked 79th, from among 140 countries, in this respect, Armenian News-NEWS.am ascertained from the Report, which the World Economic Forum has issued.     

Armenia is ranked 79th in this edition of the Report, up an impressive 11 positions since the last assessment.

The Report notes that Armenia benefits from a safe and secure environment as well as sanitary conditions and health care, but environmental protection is a serious problem in the country.  

There are several important challenges that undermine Armenia’s travel & tourism competitiveness. These include air transportation cost competitiveness, low level of the general condition and protection of the environment and natural resources, low effectiveness of marketing efforts toward tourism promotion, and relatively underdeveloped tourism infrastructures.      

Tourism is a priority sector of Armenia’s economy and the resolution of the aforesaid problems will have a significant on developing the country’s tourism and general economy alike.    

The organization’s website informs that the respondents that took part in the respective public opinion poll were asked one question: What is the attitude of the population in your country toward foreign visitors?

Accordingly, in the list of the most hospitable countries, Armenia is ranked 95th; the leader in this list is Ireland. Armenia’s neighbors Georgia, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Iran are ranked 33rd, 53rd, 82nd, and 135th respectively. In line with this survey, the least friendly countries are Bolivia, Venezuela, and Russia.       

According to the Report, improvements have taken place in Armenia across many areas measured by the Index, with the most marked being registered in the areas of policy rules and regulations, human resources, and safety and security (where the country ranks 46th, 44th, and 37th respectively).

In particular, red tape (33rd) and the cost to start a business (38th) have been reduced significantly, and visa requirements have become more open (35th).

ICT infrastructure (73rd) has improved notably, especially in terms of Internet availability and usage. Infrastructure has also improved, benefitting from significant investment in recent years.

Notwithstanding the improvements, air transport, ground transport, and tourism infrastructures remain relatively underdeveloped in Armenia, ranking 85th, 94th, and 80th, respectively.