The History, Culture and Architecture as a Potential of Urban Tourism Development: Evidence from Armenia

Abstract

The article presents a brief history of the founding of the capital Yerevan, some examples of the history and architecture of Armenia, which has a tourist attraction. Yerevan is rich in historical, cultural and scientific monuments, which together with hotels, restaurants, clubs, and various places of entertainment are tourist resources․ The paper is dedicated to urban tourism development issues. The main purpose of the research is to explore urban tourism development opportunities and main challenges in Yerevan, the capital of Republic of Armenia. Investigation of the topic is carried out in the following logical sequence: presentation of historical-cultural monuments, museums of scientific, and cultural interest visited by tourists, the main touristic assets, the main social-economic indicators and tourism infrastructures of Yerevan are discussed, then the main obstacles are analyzed. Yerevan is 2803 years old; it is rich with cultural-historical monuments. Yerevan has all the opportunities for historical, cultural, religious, gastronomic, entertainment, adventure, educational, medical, festival, and MICE tourism development. The methodological tools of the research methods are historical description, historical analysis, statistical methods, also SWOT analysis. The object of the research is Yerevan city and the subject of the research is tourism development issues in Yerevan. The results of the analysis shows that correlation coefficient is high in Yerevan between volume of tourism services and GDP, volume of tourism services and GDP per capita, volume of tourism services and employment. Also, SWOT analysis reveals the main strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of tourism development in Yerevan. The research theoretically proves and empirically confirms that tourism has a significance role for sustainable development of the city. Based on the main analysis, some recommendations are carried out towards creating sustainable tourism development plans, improving marketing, statistical recording, increasing touristic information in the city, developing infrastructures, investing in more sustainable and smart solutions in city development. The main sustainable solutions should be connected with the transport system, water and waste recycling mechanisms, energy efficiency, construction, increasing green areas, and-so-on. The results of the research can be useful for municipalities for elaborating urban tourism development plans which will lead to sustainable development.