PREREQUISITES FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF SPORTS TOURISM IN THE REPUBLIC OF ARMENIA

Abstract

Tourism has been declared as a priority sphere of the economy in the Reublic of Armenia. Taking into account climate conditions of the Republic of Armenia, it should be noted that there are appropriate prerequisites for the development of sports tourism. Based on the systematic study and analysis of current problems of sports tourism in the Republic of Armenia, the following tasks were put forward for the development of sports tourism: to study the essence and types of sports tourism, to identify the role and importance of sports tourism in the economy of the country and I the field of sport, to identify the potential opportunities and prospects for the development of the main types of sports tourism in the RA. The country's geographical location and natural resources are the guarantees of the development of sports tourism in Armenia. Despite the present potential, and the importance of economic and social significance - sports tourism is not developed properly in Armenia, the difficulties faced by sports tourism in Armenia are related to the economic problems of population development, as well as the lack of state and public support. The development of sports tourism is directly related to the degree of development of general tourism. According to our surveys among the youth, the ideas about sports tourism are quite meager. The types of sports tourism are represented even worse among the tourists visiting our republic. The most popular sports types are skiing, hiking and mountain climbing. Studying the actual data, we came to the following conclusion: there are sufficient resources in the Republic of Armenia for the development of sports tourism. It is noteworthy that sports tourism in Armenia is mainly affordable, but a number of problems hinder and slow down the development of particular directions. This problem should be solved systematically and gradually.