Tourism Numbers: Armenia welcomed 1,041,598 foreign tourists in the first half of 2026, up 14.8% year-on-year, with 31.3 million overnight stays and an average stay of about 30 days. Hotel Standards: Armenia is moving to classify hotels under Hotelstars Union standards, with the Hotel Association of Armenia set to assign star ratings for the next 10 years. Big Investment in Yerevan: Economy Minister Gevorg Papoyan met Global Tribe Gaming on a planned $500 million gaming, hotel, and entertainment complex in Yerevan, expected to create around 1,000 jobs. Regional Tourism Funding: The World Bank-backed TRIP program is set to invest €120 million in tourism clusters across Goris, Areni, Jermuk, Yeghegis, Dvin, Gyumri, and Dilijan, including wine, wellness, adventure, cultural, educational, and ecotourism. Wine Tourism Push: Work on the Areni Wine Cluster investment project is progressing, aiming to boost wine tourism and local infrastructure. Travel Safety Alert: A hotel-booking scam warning: IDBank says fraudsters may message travelers via real booking channels and urge “urgent” card-detail confirmation.