Citing the need to attract more foreign tourists, the Armenian government on Thursday unilaterally lifted its visa requirements for citizens of Japan visiting Armenia.
The decision means that starting from September 6 Japanese visitors will be able to enter the country and stay there visa-free for up to 180 days. They were until now able to receive Armenian visas at Yerevan’s Zvartnots airport and other Armenian border checkpoints.
In a statement issued after a weekly cabinet meeting, Prime Minister Karapetian’s office said the move will create “more favorable conditions” for Armenia’s commercial ties with Japan and the influx of Japanese tourists. The statement spoke of a “positive dynamic” in Japanese-Armenian relations, saying that both nations want to deepen them.
President Serzh Sarkisian paid an official visit to Japan in June 2012, meeting with Emperor Akihito and then Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda. Japan opened an embassy in Yerevan in early 2015.
The Armenian government unilaterally scrapped visas for citizens of the European Union member states and the United States in 2012 and 2014 respectively. It approved the same exemptions for visitors from five other nations, including the United Arab Emirates and Qatar, earlier this year.
The authorities in Yerevan have reported strong growth in the domestic tourism industry in the last few years. They say that the number of foreign tourists visiting Armenia is on course to rise by more than 20 percent this year.