Imagine: you have just disembarked from a 14-hour flight, after having been transported halfway around the world. You are tired, jetlagged, and a bit nervous to find yourself in a foreign country. Anxious to find a hotel for the night, you approach the information desk and ask if they have any advice or travel resources to offer you.
In many countries, international airports (ZVARTNOTS Armenia International Airports) offer a tourist magazine to help travelers orient themselves upon arrival; featuring dining, lodging, and tour recommendations, this type of publication can seem like a godsend to first-time visitors. However, the information put forth in these publications is not always accurate, and in some cases can be downright misleading. Greedy publishers may be more interested in selling advertising space than in providing an accurate and helpful guide to the country itself. This type of misinformation can cause unnecessary problems for tourists, who may contract food-borne illnesses or find themselves in dangerous neighborhoods as a result of "helpful" recommendations made by such publications.
This is exactly the type of issue presented by the Armenian welcome magazine entitled "TourInfo: Armenia in Your Pocket."
TourInfo journal
Armenia Tourist Information journal
While the publishers and editor have obviously attempted to create a resource for travelers, the information presented in TourInfo is primarily based in advertising. Every hotel is described as "elegant," every destination is stunning - yet crucial details and objective advice are glaringly absent from TourInfo's pages.
This review will address the most important aspects of travel - food, lodging, and so on - and contrast the information presented by TourInfo with the reality of Armenian life. With luck, it will help travelers to get a better idea of what Armenia is like - and show the publishers of TourInfo what tourists really need to know.
An Overview of Armenia
Tucked between Turkey, the Republic of Georgia, and Azerbaijan, the little landlocked country of Armenia does possess, as TourInfo states, "dense forests, deep valleys . . . [and] high and rocky mountain ranges." It is in fact a beautiful country, rich in culture and blessed with an attractive, varied landscape. That said, visitors should not commit to this pretty face without first learning about the complexities that lie beneath it. Once part of the Soviet Union, Armenia experienced conflict with Azerbaijan after achieving independence. Today both countries are under a mutual ceasefire agreement, but certain parts of the Armenian-Azerbaijan border still experience occasional skirmishes and violent outbreaks. Although Armenia's economic situation has improved in the past few years, poverty is still a significant issue outside of major cities such as Yerevan; the GDP per capita in 2009 was approximately $5,700, but many Armenians live on substantially less. For this reason, American and European tourists entering the country should be aware that their money makes them both a boon to the tourist industry and a mark for pickpockets or thieves. While crime levels in Armenia are ranked as relatively low by the travel advisory agency of the U.S. government, pick pocketing and theft are issues in any country suffering from poverty. TourInfo presents a glossy, wealthy image of Armenia, portraying beautiful women in long gowns and luxurious, sparkling hotels - but while cities such as Yerevan may boast such luxuries, the reality of Armenian life is much more complex, and generally humbler, than such images imply.
Food Safety for Tourists
While TourInfo encourages visitors to sample Armenian cuisine via the multitudes of decadent 4-star restaurants advertised in its pages, the reality is that much of the food and water in Armenia is not safe for tourists. Cultured, unpasteurized milk products are very popular among the locals, and certain dishes such as Oroshka and Matsun (yogurt) are often recommended on traditional menus, but consumption of these products can lead to illness and bacterial infections such as listeriosis. Hot foods which have been allowed to cool and sit at room temperature are particularly prone to the development of harmful bacteria, and should be avoided. In addition, tap water must be boiled, filtered, or chemically treated, and drinks with ice should be avoided. Food from street vendors is generally a bad idea as well, and fruits and vegetables should be peeled before consumption. These are all standard precautions in countries without first-world standards of sanitation, and should not alarm travelers wishing to visit Armenia - but they SHOULD be mentioned in TourInfo. The decision to omit standard cautionary information is irresponsible and indicates a lack of concern for traveler health.
Tours and Adventure Packages
While TourInfo does provide some tour information in the form of advertisements and museum listings, there is much that could be improved. The museums section is actually quite good - it lists hours of operations, contact information, and the entry fee travelers can expect to pay. This is useful for most people hoping to explore a new city. In fact, if TourInfo could provide this type of information for tours of major Armenian landmarks, it would vastly improve the quality of its performance in this section. Unfortunately sections focusing on Armenian tour possibilities tend to give a historical and geographical rundown of the area, rather than focusing on the practical details most relevant to tourists. There's no denying that ancient stone monasteries and breathtaking vistas are exciting for the average traveler - these things are most likely the reason he or she has come to Armenia in the first place! But rather than wasting breath on windy descriptions of these places, TourInfo ought to be telling tourists how to get there, and what to expect when they do! Will such locations be crowded? Are there better or worse times to go? Are the locations open all year round? When questions such as these are left unanswered, the average tourist is likely to give up in frustration and take the advice of a friend or hostel manager instead, simply because it is easier.
Lodging
The biggest problem with this section of the magazine is that the hotels listed are not objectively reviewed. A traveler arriving in a brand new country will generally rely upon a travel guide like those published by Lonely Planet for lodging and dining information. Unfortunately, the objective information provided by these guides is usually several years old. Magazines like TourInfo, which are published on a more frequent basis, have the chance to update this outdated information by listing their own objective reviews of local hotels, hostels, and so on - a service which would be extremely helpful to tourists! Sadly, the advertisement-style hotel listings are useless for the average tourist; they list only positive qualities, and appear to be quite biased. Travelers unable to trust TourInfo's recommendations will most likely have to rely on luck or outdated information to find an economical, comfortable place to stay.
Health and Medical Care
While TourInfo does provide a list of helpful phone numbers, including the police and a list of emergency clinics, it fails to give any sort of description of these locations or the services they can provide. Medical facilities in Armenia vary widely in quality; private clinics tend to be better staffed and supplied than hospitals, but have been slower to develop since the country achieved independence in the 1990's. Physicians generally receive less comprehensive training than doctors in the U.S. and UK, and medical supplies are often outdated and limited. Most doctors and clinics will expect payment in cash, but there is no mention of this in TourInfo! The magazine would be far more helpful to travelers if it removed one of the many glossy advertisements adorning its pages and instead included a list of services provided by each clinic and an objective assessment of the service provided. Choosing a clinic at random is both frustrating and difficult for travelers, and can cause unnecessary stress in cases of emergency.
Staff Changes
Recently Anita Hovsepian has taken Ani Davtyan's place as Deputy Director of TourInfo, and it is our hope that she will choose to implement some of the changes recommended in this review. Unfortunately, the format of the magazine has become even more ad-centered in recent volumes, and the helpful Museums section appears to have been discarded. Large full-page ads interrupt the flow of the helpful information that IS included, making it difficult to locate the resources most useful to travelers. As Ms. Hovsepian is still adjusting to her new position, this review will not comment too harshly upon her performance; however, we do hope she will choose to focus more on information and less on advertisements in the future!
In Conclusion
There has always been some divide between the needs of world travelers and the aim of the tourist trade. Tourists wish to have the most authentic travel experience possible, usually without spending excessive amounts of money, while hotels and services catering to tourists hope to encourage as much spending as possible. This often results in an unfortunate dynamic of suspicion and deceit between travelers and local populations. But such unpleasantness is unnecessary!
Visit Armenia Tourism Information website for more tourism information to Armenia there you will also find reviews on other tourist magazines distributed in Armenia.
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