Armenia takes steps to attract adventure travelers

YEREVAN, Armenia, Dec. 13 (Xinhua) - About 40 hiking trails have been recently developed in Armenia to attract more adventure-seeking tourists, Armenpress News Agency Tuesday quoted Karen Mkrtchyan, Executive Director of the Armenia Development Fund as saying.

Karen Mkrtchyan made the remarks at a meeting of stakeholders summon by the country's president on Monday.

The development of tourism has been a focus of attention in Armenia in recent years as the government hopes it will provide a much-needed boost to the economy.

"One of the important things this we've managed to accomplish this year was to have more frequent flights to Armenia by Arabic airlines. We've also worked with Air France to provide a detailed introduction to Armenia to the 1.7 billion potential customers of the French airline giant," Mkrtchyan was quoted as saying.

Despite the rocky political climate in the region and Armenia's ongoing tensions with its eastern neighbor Azerbaijan, more and more restaurants, guesthouses and hotels have been going into business in Armenia in recent years to accommodate the needs of the growing numbers of tourists in the country. Endite