Number of Iranian tourists in Armenia falling as Iranian authorities impose restrictions on currency export

• Monday, July 23, 11:16

The Iranian authorities have imposed restrictions on currency export, which has resulted in sharp decline in the number of Iranian tourists in Armenia, Ara Petrosyan, Deputy Minister of Economy, told media, Monday.

He said that in Q1 2012 inflow of tourists in Armenia fell 9% versus the same period of 2011 to 104374 people. The number of Iranian tourists fell by 10,000 to 15,000 in the period under review, the deputy minister said. The statistics for the first half of the year is not ready yet.

Petrosyan explained that the Iranian authorities imposed restrictions on conversion of the Iranian rial to maximum $400. Since, it is a very small amount for visiting and staying in Armenia, the number of tourists has sharply fallen, the deputy minister said. Conversion is carried out on the state exchange rate, as the market rate is quite unfavorable, Petrosyan explained.

He added that the Economy Ministry forecasts some growth of the inflow of tourists in 2012 to 800,000 people versus 758,000 in 2011. In 2014-2015 the number of tourists may exceed 1 million people, the deputy minister forecasted.