YEREVAN. – Little less Russian tourists have arrived in Armenia since the beginning of 2015. Head of the Tourism Development Policy Department at Armenia’s Ministry of Economy Mekhak Apresyan told Armenian News – NEWS.am today.

During the first three quarters of 2015, flow of tourists from Russia reduced by 9 percent. This fall proved to be rather noticeable, since Russia’s share in Armenian tourism is 45 percent.

He also reminded that the outbound tourism from Russia has reduced for nearly 33-34 percent over 6 months, i.e. the fall in the number of trips to Armenia proved to be relatively little. 

The flow of tourists from Iran grew by over 20 percent; the number of visitors from Iran, U.S. and a number of European countries also increased.

Only in the first 9 months of 2015, Armenia was visited by 932,587 people or 0,9 percent less than in the similar period in 2014.

The main reason behind this fall was the Russian factor, which turned out not to be very large, Apresyan said. Last time the fall was registered in 2012 due to the fall in the currency of the Iranian rial. “We had no more falls in the recent several years,” Apresyan said.