Tourism Regulation: Armenia is tightening rules for tourism service providers: from now on, they must notify state agencies via the notifytourism.gov.am platform (using “Yes Em”), or face fines and even imprisonment; the Tourism Committee says a database is being created to make registration simpler and more transparent. Guide Standards: New certification and retraining requirements for guides and tour guides will start September 1, with retraining every three years; hotel service providers keep voluntary certification, and Armenia is also moving toward rating systems for tourism providers. COP17 in Yerevan: With UN Biodiversity COP17 scheduled for October 19–30, Yerevan schools will shift to a 6-day schedule for five weeks starting September 15, extending the fall break to two weeks in October. Karabakh Promotion Backlash: Booking.com and GetYourGuide have begun promoting Shushi (as “Shusha”) and Nagorno-Karabakh (as “Khankendi”), including the Govhar Agha Mosque restored with Ruben Vardanyan’s support, as he remains detained in Azerbaijan. Travel Tech & Infrastructure: Armenia’s Hrazdan data centre and AI factory by Firebird is highlighted as a major new computing hub, while officials and observers note both the opportunity and the risks tied to large-scale data centres. EU Travel Planning: A guide notes that Armenia is among the nationalities that need a Schengen visa for short stays in Italy and the wider Schengen area.