In early June an Agreement on cooperation was signed between the Tourism and Urbanism (TUF) Charitable Foundation and the World Media & Events to develop the tourism industry and tourism infrastructures as well as to facilitate to the professional growth of industry specialists.

With this agreement, TUF Foundation, which implements programs for the socio-economic development in Armenia through tourism and urbanism initiatives, as well as projects aimed at shaping a decentralized tourism chains in Armenia, will partner with the World Media & Events organizing the World Travel Awards. The latter was founded in 1993 to acknowledge, reward and celebrate excellence across all key sectors of the travel, tourism and hospitality industries.

As part of the cooperation, TUF Foundation organized a visit of Graham Cooke, the Founder and the Director of the World Travel Awards, to Armenia. In the course of the three-day tour Mr. Cooke visited the most spectacular and attractive touristic sites in Armenia – Garni, Geghard, Dilijan, Tatev, as well as the Genocide Museum and the Matenadaran in Yerevan. He also participated in the Yerevan Wine Days event.“This cooperation is an opportunity for Armenia to climb to a new level of international tourism, become more visible, and have the Armenian cultural sites and attractions nominated for the World Travel Awards. Besides, we agreed on organizing an international wine and culinary festival in Armenia in 2022 with an expressed commitment to start the work on the project,” Yelena Abovyan, the Director of the Tourism and Urbanism (TUF) Charitable Foundation, said.

The cooperation aims at developing the incoming tourism in Armenia, improve Armenia’s position as a tourist destination in the world tourism market, strengthen the unity of professional communities in tourism and related industries, improve the image of tourism and hospitality specializations and jobs, develop the professional capacities of those engaged in the industry, support state agencies in developing public policies and implementing tourism development strategy in Armenia, as well as in elaborating and developing applicable laws and regulations in the sphere.

About the Tourism and Urbanism (TUF) Charitable Foundation

In July 2020 the Tourism and Urbanism (TUF) Charitable Foundation undertook the projects by the IDeA Foundation targeted at the tourism and urbanism development (in Dilijan, Tatev, Artsakh, and Yerevan). The Foundation develops innovative projects in tourism and urbanism, promotes sustainable regional development and positions Armenia on the world map as a competive tourism destination.