While most of the Armenians wishing to spend the summer abroad used to travel to countries like Egypt and Turkey, their interest this year has turned to more distant and exotic places, says a tourism expert.

Mary Voskanyan, an employee of the Tourcenter company, told Tert.am on Sunday that the Armenian tourists increasingly prefer to spend this summer in Sri Lanka, Jordan or Jerusalem.

“Those directions are little by little beginning to develop. People are more keen to go those places now,” she said.

As for European countries, Voskanyan noted they are widely preferred by couples wishing to spend their honeymoon in the west. But the Armenians’ desire to travel to Europe seems to be restricted only to a few countries, particularly because of the difficulties in obtaining a visa to Spain.

There is especially a great demand for tickets to Bali Island, Maldives and Seychelles, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore etc. but money is said to be a major obstacle for tourist agencies in those islands, with the rest there being “extremely expensive” there.

“Flights are arranged in such a way that [passengers] have to change three planes, first travelling to Moscow, then to Singapore and then to the destination country. So, only one person’s ticket to an exotic country costs €1,000 and more,” Voskanyan added.

A representative of the Triumph Premium Tour Agency, Tatev Ghazaryan, told our correspondent that people cannot often afford the costs, although there is a tendency. She said the traditional destinations, i.e. – Turkey and Greece, still remain the most actual choice.

She said further that the Armenian travelers have lost interest in Egypt following the Arab Spring and the shark attacks against tourist.