Serving Armenia's Competitiveness

Sylvain (Vicken) Muradian
France

Volunteering at the National Competitiveness Foundation of Armenia (NCFA) with the tourism development team has been a great chance for me. I have had the opportunity to contribute on a wide variety of issues including:

- The preparation of a business plan for the project to turn one little known geological wonder into Armenia’s first show cave

- The benchmarking of Visitor Information Centers in the Eastern Europe, Middle East and Caucasus regions

- The collaboration with a consulting company to improve the Armenia Southern Tourism Corridor development framework

- The feedback of NCFA to the government on the new tourism law under discussion

- The analysis of the impact on tourism of the potential launch of a large scale mining project

Volunteering at NCFA has allowed me to get some understanding of Armenia’s tourism sector challenges, of the dynamics of business development in Armenia, and of how ministries, NGOs and businesses interact in this context. The team considered me as a real resource, taking me to meetings and asking for my advice. They also involved me in their after-work activities, and I have become very good friends with some of them. It was a real pain to leave after 3 months of good work with them. I really felt I was part of the team.