YEREVAN. – Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan on Friday received Secretary General Zurab Pololikashvili of the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), who is visiting Armenia to attend the 67th meeting—in Yerevan—of the UNWTO Commission for Europe, the Prime Minister's Office informed Armenian News-NEWS.am.
The Prime Minister welcomed the visit of the delegation led by Pololikashvili to the country, highlighting Armenia’s election as a member of the Executive Council of the UNWTO for 2021-2025, which will further promote effective cooperation. Pashinyan noted that tourism is one of the most coronavirus-affected sectors of the economy in Armenia, which is currently showing tendency of recovering, the government is supporting that process as much as possible with various programs.
The UNWTO Secretary General thanked the Armenian side for the warm hospitality and congratulated Prime Minister Pashinyan on birthday, wishing him good health and fruitful work. He welcomed the decision of the Government of the Republic of Armenia to hold the meeting in Yerevan, shared impressions about the course of the event, its meetings, and assessed the work of the session as effective. Zurab Pololikashvili expressed satisfaction with the trend to restore tourism in Armenia and expressed readiness to deepen cooperation with the Armenian Government.
The interlocutors discussed the prospects of expanding cooperation in the field of tourism. Both sides attached importance to the development of rural tourism, agro-tourism, improving infrastructure, implementation of educational projects promoting engagement in tourism business, developing mindset, and initiatives aimed at strengthening women's entrepreneurship.
The Prime Minister presented the Armenian Government's programs in these areas, attaching importance to the advisory assistance of the UNWTO in the context of their continuous improvement. Pololikashvili considered the presented programs interesting and reaffirmed the readiness of the UNWTO to support their successful implementation with its tools.
The sides exchanged views on the possibilities of organizing an investment forum in the sphere of tourism in Armenia next year, agreed to continue active work on the implementation of the cooperation agenda.
