Tourism Growth: Armenia welcomed 1,041,598 foreign tourists in Jan–Jun 2026, up 14.8% year-on-year, with 31.3 million overnight stays and an average stay of about 30 days. Hotel Standards: Armenia’s Hotel Association won the tender to assign star ratings using Hotelstars Union criteria, aiming to align local classification with international benchmarks over the next decade. Big Investment in Yerevan: Economy Minister Gevorg Papoyan met Global Tribe Gaming on a roughly $500 million gaming, hospitality, entertainment, and tourism complex near Yerevan, projected to create about 1,000 jobs. World Bank TRIP Push: Armenia is advancing the EUR 120 million TRIP program for tourism clusters across Goris, Areni, Jermuk, Yeghegis, Dvin, Gyumri, and Dilijan, including wine, wellness, adventure, cultural, educational, and ecotourism. Areni Wine Tourism: Officials discussed progress on the Areni Wine Cluster investment project to boost wine tourism and local infrastructure. Travel Safety Alert: IDBank warns of hotel booking scams targeting travelers with messages that mimic official channels and push users to “confirm card details” via fake payment pages. Visitor Risk Warning (Russia): Russia’s Matviyenko said Moscow may advise Russians not to visit Armenia if detentions of Russian citizens continue.