ArmInfo.In early September, the Armenian capital will host the 8th UN Global Conference on Wine Tourism. As reported by the press service of the Tourism Committee, the keynote speakers will be the Minister of Tourism of Uruguay Eduardo Sangvenetti, who will share his insights on "Bridging Wine and Culture:
Uruguay's Strategic Vision." The conference will also feature the author and global influencer from Canada, wine journalist Liz Palmer, and Carolina Fuller, the head of the Hospitality Department of Catena Zapata (Argentina). Note: UN Tourism and the Government of Armenia will organize the 8th UN Tourism Global Conference on Wine Tourism on 11-13 September in Yerevan, Armenia, under the theme "Heritage in Every Bottle: Crafting Authentic Wine Tourism Experiences".
This annual Conference represents a unique opportunity for experts from across the growing field of wine tourism to work together to find concrete solutions to make tourism an enabler of the way forward towards a more sustainable, inclusive and resilient future for communities. According to the Tourism Committee, 964 thousand tourists visited Armenia in January-June 2024, which is 4% lower than the same period last year. Traditionally, the majority of tourists who choose to vacation in Armenia are citizens of the Russian Federation (41%), followed by tourists from Georgia (13%), Iran (7%), India (3%), the USA (2%), as well as from Ukraine, the Philippines, Germany, France, and China (1% each).
According to statistics from the RA, Armenia significantly reduced its wine production volumes in the first half of 2024, dropping by 38.5% annually to 4.4 million liters. According to the RA Customs Service, in 2023, Armenia experienced wine a 7% reduction in wine exports, totaling 4.4 million liters, with a corresponding decrease in customs value of 2.8% to $18.3 million. The main sales market for Armenian wine has traditionally been Russia, with its share increasing from 78.8% in 2022 to 83.2% in 2023. Following the Russia is the United States with a share of 5%, France - 1.6%, Belarus - 1.3%, Lithuania, Italy, Belgium (0.9% each), China (0.8%), Georgia, Italy, Poland (0.4% each), and the United Kingdom (0.2%). The remaining volume was supplied to Japan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Greece, Canada, Latvia, Israel, Estonia, Danmark, Germany, Australia, Emirates, Bulgaria, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Ukraine, and the Czech Republic. Very small volumes (less than 1,000 liters) were supplied to Finland, Sweden, Taiwan, Norway, Iceland, Turkey, Austria, Brazil, Portugal, Spain, Singapore, Cuba, Uruguay, Malta and Benin.
