The United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) lists Armenia among the 20 fastest growing tourism destinations in the world.
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Armenia is ranked 12th with 14.4% in the list of 20 fastest growing countries for tourism according to the data of the UNWTO World Tourism Barometer. Among the neighbors only Iran surpassed Armenia with tourism growth, capturing the 3rd place with 27.9%. Within the member states of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) Armenia is undoubtedly the leader, whereas Kazakhstan is ranked 20th with 10% growth. Turkey and Azerbaijan are ranked 13th and 17th with 14% and 11.4% respectively.
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Overseas trips hit 1.5 billion in 2019, up 4% from 2018. France remained the most-visited country with more than 90 million visitors, followed by Spain’s 83.8 million. But the most interesting stats related to the countries that saw the highest jump in visitor numbers year-on-year. Top of the pack was Myanmar, which saw a 40.2% increase in visitors, followed by Puerto Rico (31.2%) and Iran (27.9%), although this last is likely to suffer a drop in 2020 given the current political climate.
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However, it wasn’t good news for every destination, with many blighted by political turmoil and terrorism. Sri Lanka experienced an 18% drop in tourist numbers, due in large part to the terror attacks over Easter.
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Hong Kong saw an 18.8% decrease following protests and social unrest. The US was down 1.3% on visitor numbers, while the UK saw a 1.7 uptick. The region that saw the biggest growth was the Middle East, at 8%; the Americas saw the least, at 2%.
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Per The Independent