Spot ads on Armenia via CNN and Euronews... and Russian diaries

Yerevan diaries

Today my colleague said that he and his wife saw pictures of Armenia via Euronews ads, which they liked. It's not the first time that I hear people seeing pictures of Armenia for the first time via spot ads broadcast through CNN and Euronews and financed by State budget. Not that I like either CNN or Euronews, but it actually works (based on my subjective, non-scientific impressions).

Of the two ads I've seen I prefer the second one (less churchy):



We need more of them and not only. While in Yerevan, I noticed lack of simple touristy things, say leaflets on various attractions, street maps etc. Some of my friends told me that during summer relatively good quality street maps with various ads and some useful info were distributed free of charge to all arrivals at the airport. However, it did not happen when I arrived. Not that I personally needed them, but they are essential for tourists. I am sure limited number of them are available in the hotels. But they should be in abandon in the airport, kiosks and bookstores.

Also, I could not find nice diary in Armenian (or multi-lingual). This is not solely touristic thing but could be useful for locals too. Well, true, not many locals use diaries but they do so increasingly. However, all available diaries were in Russian and English, including lots of useful info on... Russia. I found only one diary with some Armenian words in it, otherwise completely useless and impractical. I bought it just because it was the only option but will stop using it, it's just a pain. These are simple things, and could easily be done and bring money to the industry. Laziness?