Tovmasyan G.R. Phd in Economics, Professor, Tourism and Crisis
Tovmasyan G.R. © PhD in Economics, Professor, Tourism and Crisis Management Department, Armenian State University of Economics RELIGIOUS TOURISM DEVELOPMENT BASES AND PERSPECTIVES IN THE REPUBLIC OF ARMENIA Summary The article presents the analysis of current statistics of tourism sphere in the RA and in the world. The brief history of Christian religious tourism, the main perspectives of religious tourism development based on the religion history and churches in Armenia are discussed in the article. Keywords: tourism, tourist, pilgrimage, religious tourism. Ключевые слова : туризм , турист , паломничество , религиозный туризм . Nowadays tourism is one of the most rapidly developing branches of the world economy. International tourist arrivals reached 1,133 million in 2014, a 4.3% increase over the previous year. In 2014, travel for holidays, recreation and other forms of leisure accounted for just over half of all international tourist arrivals (53%). Some 14% of international tourists reported travelling for business and professional purposes and another 27% travelled for other reasons, such as visiting friends and relatives (VFR), religious reasons and pilgrimages, health treatment, etc. The purpose of visit for the remaining 6% of arrivals was not specified [15, 3-5]. According to UNWTO glossary ‘’Tourism is a social, cultural and economic phenomenon which entails the movement of people to countries or places outside their usual environment for personal or business/professional purposes.’’[14]. The main types of tourism are leisure/holiday tourism, business tourism, cultural tourism, eco- tourism, study tourism, religious, pilgrimage tourism, health and medical tourism, visiting friends and relatives, agricultural tourism, sports tourism. In Armenia tourism was announced to be the main sector of economy.
[Show full text]