July 24, 2009 - 17:55 AMT
Armenian tourism gains from a number of objective reasons.
According to preliminary data 207 729 tourists visited Armenia over first half of 2009, Mekhak Apresyan , head of the department of tourism and regional economic development of the RA Ministry of Economy told a press conference on Friday.

According to him, the tourism industry undergoes no recession, and even records a slight growth.

"60 per cent of all tourists visiting Armenia are from the world-wide Armenian Diaspora, and this year the number of Diaspora representatives visited Armenia hasn't also reduced," Apresyan said.

In 2008 most of the tourists visited Armenia were of older age, people with established habits, who are less affected by the crisis. However, he noted, that insufficient development of alternative forms of tourism is the main reason for the lack of interest from younger generation.