The power of traditions helps to continue living and acting.
The AAPTG has turned 5 this year!
If we remove two years of hardship for obvious reasons, we will remember a three-year gathering in regions full of warm memories and craziness. 2018 in Dilijan, 2019 in Gyumri and 2022 in Goris. The choice of regions is not made by chance, but is aimed at identifying, developing and supporting the tourism potential of the region.
For this year, it was decided that the forum should be held in Syunik, benefiting the infrastructure of Syunik, which was the most affected by the recent events.
The morning of December 17 was preceded by responsible organizational works. The main purpose of the two-day trip to Syunik region was to present a small holiday to the children of one of the border villages on the occasion of our 5th anniversary, which has also become one of our traditions.
In the school of Ishkhanasar village, which has 200 inhabitants, we were greeted by the children waiting for the holiday. No words can express what we really felt at that moment. The people of Ishkhanasar were the ones who created the atmosphere, the children with burning eyes who found joy even in their narrow living conditions with limited opportunities. Their enthusiasm helped cheer us up and also the people who sent a handful of warmth with us to Ishkhanasar. For a moment we forgot the reality and believed again that the border is not abandoned: the boys and girls love and own every inch of their mountains, they acted like real princes
Our bus driver with a pretty good sense of humor took us to Goris. It was not an easy task to endure 25 "quiet" guides, but Artyom did not give up: suffering was experienced))).
Impact Hub Syunik organized a Christmas Market fair for the first time in Syunik region, where more than 20 producers from different parts of Syunik were represented. Surely enough, we couldn’t miss the chance to visit it.
We were aware that there were Artsakh residents in our hotel due to the closed road leading to Artsakh. The Guide-Santa from the Association presented the children with smiles and gifts. A 2-year-old kid hesitated for a moment, hid behind his mother’s safe back, but after a short time she realized that we love her a lot, she loved the gifts too))) The 4-month-old baby was passing from hand to hand and smiling carelessly.
There was an atmosphere of unity at the evening dinner. All the conversations were about Armenia, Artsakh, different corners of our homeland and our work. This time we replaced our typical craziness with a round dance of unity: national, unifying prayer-dances.
The next day was a working day: discussions related to the field, concerns about correcting the shortcomings, analyses, upcoming tasks and plans.
We returned from sunny Goris to foggy Yerevan with our hearts filled with warmth, renewed, strengthened, united and our bags filled with Syunik's harvest and goodness.
P.S. We would like to express our special thanks to the management and all the staff of our partner hotel "Mina" for the warm welcome and to the transport company "Bus Voyage" for always being by our side and supporting us.
