Armenia welcomed 227,026 tourists in August 2026, a 32.1 percent decline compared to August 2025, when 334,396 visitors arrived in the country, according to the Tourism Committee of the Economy Ministry. The drop extends a two-month summer downturn that has now pulled the cumulative January-August total to 1,467,333, falling 1.8 percent behind the 1,493,727 recorded during the same period in 2025.
Through May, 2026 had been running 19.3 percent ahead of 2025. Through June, the lead was 14.8 percent. Through July, it had narrowed to 7 percent. With August, the year-to-date figure has crossed below the prior year’s pace for the first time. The eight-month total also sits 7.7 percent behind the January-August 2023 pace of 1,589,355, when Armenia went on to record its all-time annual high of 2.33 million visitors.
August 2026’s 227,026 arrivals fell short of August 2019’s 288,260, making it the weakest August since 2021. Monthly arrivals in 2026 exceeded their 2025 counterparts in every month from January through June before reversals in July and August: January saw 179,409 visitors (up from 139,482), February brought 121,285 (up from 117,372), March recorded 152,444 (up from 129,887), April reached 172,705 (up from 123,705), May closed at 199,541 (up from 181,436), June ended at 216,214 (up from 215,253), July dropped to 198,709 (down from 263,592), and August fell to 227,026 (down from 334,396).
The highest number of tourist arrivals during the January-August period came from Russia (585,400 individuals or 40%), followed by Georgia (209,815 individuals, 14%) and Iran (121,334 individuals, 8%). The top ten source countries also included the United States (29,256; 2%), China (28,275; 2%), Germany (22,825; 2%), Ukraine (20,353; 1.38%), France (19,389; 1.32%), Italy (15,568; 1%), and India (10,705; 1%), with other countries collectively accounting for 27.3 percent of total arrivals.
By border entry, Zvartnots International Airport continued to serve as the primary gateway for visitors, accounting for 58 percent of total arrivals, down from 59 percent during the same period in 2025. It was followed by Bagratashen (20%, down from 21%), Bavra (11%, up from 10%), Meghri (6%, up from 5%), Gyumri Airport (2%), Gogavan (2%), and Ayrum (1%).
By gender, men made up approximately 57 percent of all arrivals, while women accounted for 43 percent. In terms of age distribution, the largest group of visitors was working-age adults aged 35-44 at 26 percent, followed by 45-54 (19%), 25-34 (19%), 55-64 (13%), and 65 and older (7%), with younger age groups accounting for the remainder.
Armenia recorded 1.89 million arrivals in 2019, which fell sharply to 375,000 in 2020 due to the pandemic, before rebounding to 870,000 in 2021, 1.67 million in 2022, a record 2.33 million in 2023, 2.21 million in 2024, and 2.26 million in 2025. The head of the Tourism Committee, Lusine Gevorgyan, has stated that Armenia expects to welcome at least 3 million tourists annually within the next five years, a figure equivalent to the country’s population, with projections reaching 5 million within a decade.
