Hot on the heels of the Armenian Diaspora Virtual Museum fiasco, I can’t help but bring to the attention of our readers, especially those living outside Armenia, another example of a top Armenian official who evidently enjoys making blithe statements to the TV cameras without regard to the consequences.

This time it was Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan who shot from the hip when he invited Israeli tourists to choose Armenia as a vacation spot over Turkey.

It's like when the Diaspora Minister declared she wanted to decrease the number of mixed marriages in the diaspora. Please, lighten up on the impossible and focus on what's practical for a change.

"We plan to accommodate up to 3 million tourists in the coming years, many of them from Israel," Sargsyan said. Armenia currently hosts about 750,000 tourists annually,” Prime Minister Sargsyan allegedly said in a special interview with the Israeli news service, Ynet.

Now, any casual observer will tell you that Armenia does not host 750,000 tourists annually. In fact, 75,000 is probably closer to the truth. But hey, who’s checking the facts? Why not make it a round 1 million while you’re at it?

Armenia tourism industry is down in the dumps as spring arrives. I’ve been told by those in the business that Yerevan hotel bookings are way down from last year.

With the appreciation of the U.S. dollar in Iran, only a fraction of tourists from Armenia’s neighbour will be arriving in Yerevan to celebrate the Nowruz holiday.

Even in prior years, many Iranian tourists would complain about the high prices of hotels and other accommodations in Armenia’s capital. With the new exchange rates, Armenia will have a hard time attracting tourists from Iran who came more the relatively lax social norms of Yerevan and the Sevan shore than anything else.

In the interview, PM Sargsyan is reported to have said, “"We have great potential for religious tourism, and we wish to learn more from Israel in this area."

Why doesn’t the government start with the basics of tourist development?

How about a few more parks and fewer cafes?
How about teaching Yerevan police a few vital phrases in English?
How about getting some decent public transportation on Yerevan streets?

PM Sargsyan promised to find ways to improve accessibility to Israeli tourists. Great, but the problems facing the tourist trade in Armenia relate to tourists in general, not merely those from Israel.

Lake Sevan, one of the prime, if not most important natural tourist destinations in Armenia, has been a tourist nightmare for many years. The management and oversight of this highly valued piece of Armenian real estate has been an embarrassment for the country for too long.

Let the government prove it is serious by starting to fix the mess that turns off foreign tourists in general.

Yerevan hotels remain un-booked right now because most are in the business of short-term gain rather than taking a long-term perspective regarding the tourist trade.

They waited till the last minute in order to jack up their rates and now no one is taking the bait.

Prime Minister Sargsyan’s invitation to Israeli tourists is yet another example of PR bluster with nothing to back it up.

EL AL doesn’t fly to Yerevan and Armavia, Armenia’s financially shaky national carrier, just started twice weekly flights to Tel Aviv.

I checked Armavia’s website for prices. It will cost one adult around $550 to fly Tel Aviv – Yerevan, round trip. Then add around $100 per night for a hotel room and a minimum of $20-40 per day in spending money and your average Israeli tourist just might get away with coughing up about $1,500 for a week in Armenia.

Even with the bad vibes between Israel and Turkey, I’m sure that Israeli tourists can get a bigger bang for their buck in Turkey.

And what about Greece, if Israel tourists forego Turkey as a vacation spot? Given the financial mess that Athens faces, you can be assured that the Greek Board of Tourism will leave no stone unturned to attract visitors and vacationers to the sunny shores of the Aegean Sea, the Acropolis and points in between.

Can Armenia hope to compete with all this?

A few basic steps in the right direction could make a world of difference.

Sadly, the government seems more intent on appearance than content.

Government officials can make all the declarations they want, promising this and that, but when there is a lack of follow-up, accountability and effective management down below, what results is a travesty at best and proof of unprincipled governance in essence.

When a government hands over public lands to commercial interests in the heart of Yerevan, decreasing already scare parkland and green space, then how can we take the prime minister at his word when he promises to develop the infrastructure needed to attract tourists to Armenia?

When the government gives the go-ahead for open pit mines adjacent to the much heralded Syunik Tourist Gateway, with the medieval monastery of Tatev as the jewel in the crown, then we get suspicious.

When a hydroelectric power station was being built practically atop the Trchkan Waterfall, with the full knowledge and tacit backing of the government, then we have the right to cry “foul”.

Grandiose schemes and public declarations by the government need to be backed up with actual deeds.

Half measures and haphazard management can no longer be tolerated.

You want tourists to come to Armenia - from Israel and the wider world?

Then start with the basics...start by showing others that we value and cherish the cultural and natural inheritance we have been bequeathed.