Tourism Operators Must Register in Electronic Registry

A relevant website has been prepared, which is integrated into the entire system of the Tourism Committee of the Ministry of Economy, and all entities engaged in tourism activities must register in this system and declare their activities through this established procedure. This was stated by Minister of Economy Gevorg Papoyan at a government meeting while presenting the issue of establishing the electronic registry of individuals providing tourism services.

According to the minister, the draft arises from the interests of tourists arriving in Armenia, as well as the protection of the rights of entities engaged in tourism activities and the logic of establishing unified rules of the game for them. "Only those who declare their activities will have the right to engage in tourism activities, and this will be done absolutely digitally, without the contact of civil servants with tourism entities until the moment we need to go and assess whether the submitted documents are accurate or not," he stated.

The minister reminded that there has also been a clarification regarding what constitutes a hotel, motel, hostel, and the requirements directed toward them. This is important in terms of the fact that a motel can be declared as a hostel, or a hotel as a hotel. The ministry will also issue certificates that will allow these organizations to operate. If there is a violation, administrative and criminal liability is envisaged. The patrol service will conduct inspections for tourist buses, while the market supervisory bodies will check hotels and hostels. The sector will operate on a scoring system based on the data obtained.

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan responded that this decision is related to several factors: the increase in tourist flows to Armenia, the growth of domestic tourism, and the online acquisition of tourism services. "Providing tourism services becomes a notification-subject activity, whereby the entity declares, saying 'I am engaged in tourism activities,' allowing the government and relevant bodies to at least preliminarily study the environment and provide an assurance that citizens—both Armenian and foreign—can benefit from this service, as the state has conducted a preliminary examination and has not seen significant discrepancies between what has been declared and reality. This also applies to vehicles and guides, as one vehicle may be posted on the internet, but when it arrives, the person sees a different vehicle," Pashinyan added, noting that this is about setting a new standard for the tourism industry because tourism is becoming an industry.