PROMOTING MARKETING AND SALES IN GYUMRI'S HOSPITALITY BUSINESS
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10/10/2009
Gyumri, Shirak Marz - On October 10, 2009, the USAID-funded Competitive Armenian Private Sector (CAPS) Project held a seminar on “Marketing and Sales in the Hospitality Business” in the city of Gyumri. The seminar was facilitated by Dr. Mahmood A. Khan, Ph.D., Professor at the Department of Hospitality and Tourism Management at one of the most prestigious American educational institutions - the Virginia Tech / Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University.
Tourism industry representatives, including visitor information centers, tour operators, restaurants, hotels, guesthouses, and tourism faculty students participated in the discussion. The main topics of discussion included how to increase revenue and how marketing activities should be reflected in expenses. At the end of the seminar, the participants evaluated strengths and weaknesses of Gyumri’s hospitality industry and defined practical measures for promoting the strengths and overcoming the weaknesses.
At the initiative of the CAPS Project earlier this year, an academic partnership was established between Virginia Tech and Armenian higher education institutions. Within the framework of this partnership, since the beginning of 2009 qualified specialists of Virginia Tech / Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University have delivered a number of specialized training courses and seminars to representatives of the Armenian tourism industry, as well as introduced several Armenian universities to leading edge curricula, offering modern teaching methods and approaches.
“The seminar provided an excellent opportunity for hospitality industry companies to learn and adopt international best practice in the area of marketing. By supporting this and similar initiatives we try to assist hospitality firms to improve their marketing skills and become more visible, not only in the local market but also internationally,” said CAPS Marketing Specialist Gayane Dallakyan.
