In 2016, European tourists will get familiarized with the mountain trails around Goris town of Armenia.
Lia Bakhshinian, President of the Armenian Guides Guild, told NEWS.am.
“We primarily organize hiking toward [Mount] Aragats; this is a very popular route,” Bakhshinian noted. “But now, we are going to acquaint the hiking lovers with Goris.”
Since European tourists are less interested in the pristine mountain trails than in the traditional tours in Armenia, there is less number of professional hiking tour guides in the country.
In 2008, several such tour guides from Armenia underwent training in France, and within the framework of the United States Agency for International Development Competitive Armenian Private Sector (USAID/CAPS) Project. Now, they train the beginners.
“The education with this specialty is expensive,” Bakhshinian explained. “For that reason, new donor projects would help us a lot.”