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Tourism assures economic growth in Nagorno-Karabakh .The Guardian
18:38, 22 August, 2012
YEREVAN, AUGUST 22, ARMENPRESS: The leafy boulevards of Stepanakert,
capital of Nagorno-Karabakh, are beginning to attract visitors. As
Armenpress reports citing The Guardian, in many ways, Stepanakert
resembles a small American town on the rise. Its main boulevards have
been repaved, locals stroll through the renovated central square past
its elegant fountain, and hotels have sprouted on every other block to
hold the new influx of visitors.
Not long ago much of the city was in ruins and the economy virtually
non-existent. Today locals meander along leafy streets lined with new
banks, stores and government buildings. A tourism industry is slowly
taking root, as travellers from across the world descend on the tiny
republic, population about 141,000, in increasing numbers.
Yet ordinary Karabakh Armenians are trying to capitalise on the
relative post-war stability. Even as border tensions have escalated
in recent years, which have seen deadly skirmishes between Armenian
and Azeri forces, small-time businessman Ashot Simonyan says foreign
visitors have continued to stream through his spare rental apartments.
"Everyone who comes here really loves it," he says with a salesman's
grin. "We have everything a tourist needs, it's completely normal
here."
18:38, 22 August, 2012
YEREVAN, AUGUST 22, ARMENPRESS: The leafy boulevards of Stepanakert,
capital of Nagorno-Karabakh, are beginning to attract visitors. As
Armenpress reports citing The Guardian, in many ways, Stepanakert
resembles a small American town on the rise. Its main boulevards have
been repaved, locals stroll through the renovated central square past
its elegant fountain, and hotels have sprouted on every other block to
hold the new influx of visitors.
Not long ago much of the city was in ruins and the economy virtually
non-existent. Today locals meander along leafy streets lined with new
banks, stores and government buildings. A tourism industry is slowly
taking root, as travellers from across the world descend on the tiny
republic, population about 141,000, in increasing numbers.
Yet ordinary Karabakh Armenians are trying to capitalise on the
relative post-war stability. Even as border tensions have escalated
in recent years, which have seen deadly skirmishes between Armenian
and Azeri forces, small-time businessman Ashot Simonyan says foreign
visitors have continued to stream through his spare rental apartments.
"Everyone who comes here really loves it," he says with a salesman's
grin. "We have everything a tourist needs, it's completely normal
here."