On October 4, a joint working discussion was held as part of the “Living Landscapes for Market Development in Armenia” (LILA) and RECONOMY’s “Digitizing Sectors for Competitiveness” projects, with the participation of the representatives of the destination management organizations (DMOs), beneficiaries of the LILA project.

The primary objective of the meeting was to plan activities that would identify and engage families in the target settlements of the LILA project on the Like Local digital platform.

Alla Hovhannisyan, an expert on the “Digitizing Sectors for Competitiveness” project, shared insights on the project’s areas of intervention, including tourism, and discussed their digitization experiences in the target regions of the RECONOMY project in Eastern Europe and the Balkans.

Alla Ghazaryan, coordinator of the LILA project, highlighted the project’s goal to develop sustainable and inclusive tourism in the regions of Lori, Vayots Dzor, Tavush, and Syunik. She emphasized the importance of offering authentic tourist experiences to visitors in Armenia and directing tourist flows to remote settlements by involving rural families in this initiative.

Gevorg Babayan, founder of the Like Local digital platform, provided an overview of the platform’s activities and shared international experiences. He expressed a commitment to including families living unique lifestyles in the target communities of the LILA project, enabling them to host tourists if they meet the criteria for joining the platform.

In this context, Karina Harutyan, project officer for “Digitizing Sectors for Competitiveness,” underscored the critical role of destination management organizations in identifying these families and accurately collecting and digitizing their information.

During the meeting, memorandums of cooperation were signed between the destination management organizations and the Like Local digital platform.

LILA project is funded by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), and implemented by the WWF Armenian Office (WWF-Armenia) in partnership with the Strategic Development Agency (SDA) NGO.

RECONOMY is an inclusive and green economic development program of the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida), implemented by Helvetas in partnership with the Strategic Development Agency NGO and others in the Eastern Partnership and Western Balkan countries.

On September 26, a partnership agreement was signed between the “Strategic Development Agency” NGO and the Armenian Tourism Federation within the RECONOMY’s “Digitizing Sectors for Competitiveness” project.

In his speech, Mekhak Apresyan, chairman of the Armenian Tourism Federation, emphasized the long-term cooperation with the “Strategic Development Agency” NGO and the importance of the support shown to the federation.

Mkrtich Ayvazyan, chairman of the “Strategic Development Agency” NGO, assured that the organization considers the development of tourism in Armenia as one of the strategic directions and will support the efforts aimed at digitization of the sector.

Then, Mher Sahakyan, “Digitizing Sectors for Competitiveness” project manager and Mekhak Apresyan, chairman of the Armenian Tourism Federation discussed the upcoming tasks and action plan.

The project aims at developing the capacity of the Armenian Tourism Federation to provide non formal education to target groups, particularly women, youth and vulnerable groups, to enhance their competencies on digital products and services in the field of tourism.

As a project outcome, it is expected to have a workforce endowed with digital innovative knowledge in the tourism sector, expanding their employability and income earning opportunities.

RECONOMY is an inclusive and green economic development program of the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida), implemented by Helvetas in partnership with the Strategic Development Agency NGO and others in the Eastern Partnership and Western Balkan countries.