GOVERNMENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF ARMENIA
DECISION
No 1380-N of 25 September 2025
ON APPROVING THE CRITERIA AND PROCEDURE FOR SELECTION OF THE ASSOCIATION OF PERSONS PROVIDING TOURISM SERVICES, WHICH GRANTS QUALIFICATION TO ENTITIES OF HOTEL INDUSTRY
Being guided by part 5 of Article 13 of the Law “On tourism”:
The Government of the Republic of Armenia hereby decides:
1. To approve:
(1) the criteria for selection of the association of persons providing tourism services, which grants qualification to entities of hotel industry, pursuant to Annex No 1;
(2) the procedure for selection of the association of persons providing tourism services, which grants qualification to entities of hotel industry, pursuant to Annex No 2.
2. This Decision shall enter into force on the tenth day following its official promulgation.
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Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia |
T. Khachatryan |
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Yerevan |
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26 September 2025 CERTIFIED BY ELECTRONIC SIGNATURE |
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Annex No 1 to the Decision of the Government of the Republic of Armenia No 1380-N of 25 September 2025 |
CRITERIA FOR SELECTION OF THE ASSOCIATION OF PERSONS PROVIDING TOURISM SERVICES, WHICH GRANTS QUALIFICATION TO ENTITIES OF HOTEL INDUSTRY
1. GENERAL PROVISIONS
1. The following basic concepts shall be used in this Annex:
(1) applicant — an association of persons providing tourism services having applied, as prescribed by this Decision, to the Committee to participate in the competition called for granting qualification to entities of hotel industry;
(2) institution granting international qualification — an institution specified by the Decision of the Government of the Republic of Armenia “On establishing the technical requirements for granting qualification to and the descriptions of entities of hotel industry, the procedure and criteria for granting qualification thereto, as well as the form and validity period of the qualification certificate thereof”;
(3) member of institution granting international qualification — an association of persons providing tourism services which acts as a full or implementing member of the institution granting international qualification or is otherwise authorised — by virtue of membership, treaty or other agreement and on behalf of the institution granting international qualification — to grant the qualification, applied by the institution granting international qualification, to persons providing hotel services in the territory of the Republic of Armenia.
2. CRITERIA FOR SELECTION OF THE ASSOCIATION OF PERSONS PROVIDING TOURISM SERVICES
2. At the time of applying, the applicant must meet the criteria prescribed by points 3 and 4 of this Annex.
3. The applicant must:
(1) be registered, for at least 2 years, in the Republic of Armenia as a non-commercial organisation, the statutory objectives whereof are targeted at the introduction and observance of the quality of services and high standards of service in the tourism sector, the development of responsible tourism and the observance of the principles of ethics;
(2) not find itself in a process of dissolution or be declared as bankrupt;
(3) ensure that more than half of its members appear to be persons providing hotel services;
(4) be a member of an institution granting international qualification;
(5) have financial stability;
(6) not appear to be a person having caused damage to third persons in the course or as a result of implementing tourism activities upon the actions or inaction thereof, under the judicial act of the competent court of the Republic of Armenia, having entered into legal force and rendered on the basis of a statement of claim submitted as prescribed by the Civil Procedure Code of the Republic of Armenia, or no violation must have been established, under this judicial act, on the ground of discrimination on the part of the association of persons providing tourism services;
(7) not have been subjected to liability by the Competition Protection Commission, if this act was not appealed against through judicial procedure, whereas in case of having been appealed against, the act on liability was not altered;
(8) have a head of executive body meeting the criteria prescribed by point 4 of this Annex or an acting official performing the functions of the head of executive body meeting these requirements;
(9) provide information to the effect that the head of the executive body thereof is not a member of a political party.
4. The head of the executive body of the applicant must:
(1) not have been convicted or have any previous criminal conviction for the economic crimes prescribed by the Criminal Code of the Republic of Armenia, under the judicial act of a competent court of the Republic of Armenia, having entered into legal force, or have the status of an accused person for the committal of these crimes;
(2) not hold the position of a person performing the functions of the head of the executive body of a person providing hotel services or, in case of these functions being delegated — the position for performing the functions of the head of the executive body of the delegated organisation;
(3) not be a member of a political party.
5. The association of persons providing tourism services shall be obliged to observe the compliance with the criteria prescribed by this Annex throughout the entire course of its activities.
6. The association of persons providing tourism services shall be obliged to calculate and publish on its Internet website the price list for the service required for granting qualification to an entity of hotel industry.
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Deputy Chief of Staff to the Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia |
A. Khachatryan |
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26 September 2025 CERTIFIED BY ELECTRONIC SIGNATURE |
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Annex No 2 to the Decision of the Government of the Republic of Armenia No 1380-N of 25 September 2025 |
PROCEDURE FOR SELECTION OF THE ASSOCIATION OF PERSONS PROVIDING TOURISM SERVICES, WHICH GRANTS QUALIFICATION TO ENTITIES OF HOTEL INDUSTRY
1. GENERAL PROVISIONS
1. The following basic concepts shall be used in this Annex:
(1) competition — a competition called, by the Committee, for selecting a person providing tourism services whereby qualification is granted to entities of hotel industry;
(2) competition commission or commission — a collegial body established upon the order of the Chairperson of the Committee, which selects, in observance of the procedures established by this Annex, an association of persons providing tourism services, which grants qualification to entities of hotel industry.
2. Other concepts used in this Annex shall have the meaning applied in the Law “On tourism” and in Annex No 1 approved under this Decision.
2. CALL FOR THE COMPETITION FOR SELECTION OF THE ASSOCIATION OF PERSONS PROVIDING TOURISM SERVICES, WHICH GRANTS QUALIFICATION TO ENTITIES OF HOTEL INDUSTRY
3. Association of persons providing tourism services shall be selected through open competition.
4. The Committee shall simultaneously publish the announcement on the competition on its Internet website and the social media pages run thereby.
5. In order to submit an application on participation in the competition, a period of at least 1 month shall be granted starting from the moment of publication of the announcement on the competition on the Internet website of the Committee.
6. The announcement on the competition must at least contain the following information:
(1) an indication as to the competition being held for granting qualification to entities of hotel industry;
(2) an indication as to the eligibility of submitting an application on participation in the competition exclusively by the associations of persons providing tourism services that are registered and are operating in the Republic of Armenia;
(3) the procedure for submitting an application on participation in the competition;
(4) an indication as to the announcement provided for by sub-point 9 of point 3 of Annex No 1 approved under this Decision being considered as an acceptance of the conditions of the call for competition;
(5) an indication as to the winner of the competition being determined upon the decision of the competition commission in case of equal scores gained, by taking as a basis the fact that the applicant is a member of an institution granting international qualification having obtained the approval of the majority of votes of the members of the commission;
(6) the deadline for applying for the competition;
(7) the time limit for summarising the results of the competition and concluding a contract with the winner of the competition and the effective period of the contract;
(8) the feedback contact details;
(9) other conditions of the competition.
3. PROCEDURE FOR APPLYING FOR THE COMPETITION
7. The applicant shall submit the following documents and information, in electronic form, by forwarding them to the e-mail address of the Committee at “stc@mineconomy.am” and to the e-mail address of the Ministry of Economy at “secretariat@mineconomy.am”:
(1) an application on participation in the competition which must at least contain the following information:
a. brand name and legal and organisational form of the association of persons providing tourism services,
b. state registration number of the association of persons providing tourism services,
c. an indication as to the application being submitted for participation in the competition,
d. the consent of the association of persons providing tourism services to the receipt of information on the association of persons providing tourism services, from the Agency for State Register of Legal Entities of the Ministry of Justice,
e. the list of judicial cases initiated upon statements of claim filed against the association of persons providing tourism services, by indicating the reference number of each court case (if available), or an indication as to the absence of statements of claim against the association of persons providing tourism services,
f. brief description of the functions performed by the association of persons providing tourism services having acted as a non-governmental association or association of legal entities, during at least 2 years preceding the moment of applying,
g. e-mail address for ensuring feedback notification,
h. position, name, surname and signature of person signing the application,
i. other documents and information, with an indication as to each out of those being submitted for assessing the compliance with the particular criterion of Annex No 1 approved under this Decision,
j. list of documents attached to the application;
(2) the following details on the head of the executive body:
a. data in the personal identification document of the head of the executive body;
b. consent of the head of the executive body to the receipt from state bodies of information attesting the fact that he or she has no previous criminal conviction for the crimes prescribed by sub-point 1 of point 4 of Annex No 1 approved under this Decision;
c. confirmation as to the head of the executive body meeting the criterion prescribed by sub-point 2 of point 4 of Annex No 1 approved under this Decision;
(3) the list of members of the association of persons providing tourism services, by including the following information:
a. brand name and legal and organisational type of each member;
b. state registration number and registered address of each member;
c. an indication as to which of the members thereof appear to be persons providing hotel services;
(4) a document obtained from the institution granting international qualification which contains information on the applicant being a member of the institution granting international qualification, with an indication as to which association of persons providing tourism services is entitled to grant qualification, in the Republic of Armenia, to entities of hotel industry on behalf of this institution and on which ground;
(5) the following information attesting financial stability:
a. excerpt from the bank account of the association of persons providing tourism services for the period of 12 months preceding the moment of applying, which reflects the payments of the membership fees received from the members,
b. evidence attesting the right of the association of persons providing tourism services to charge membership fees from the members of the applicant,
c. list of items owned by the applicant under the right of ownership.
8. The fact of having previously deprived the association of persons providing tourism services of the status of the association of persons providing tourism services, which grants qualification to entities of hotel industry, shall not restrict the right of the same association of persons providing tourism services to apply, in further, for participating in a new competition, if the ground for depriving the association of persons providing tourism services of the status of an association granting qualification to entities of hotel industry no longer exists.
9. In case of submitting documents in a foreign language, the Armenian translation thereof with notarial certification shall be submitted simultaneously.
10. Upon the own initiative of the applicant, the documents and information attesting the information provided for by paragraph “d” of sub-point 1 and paragraph “b” of sub-point 2 of point 7 of this Annex may be submitted to the Committee.
11. The documents drawn up by the applicant shall be signed by the head of the executive body of the applicant.
12. The documents and information prescribed by point 7 of this Annex shall be submitted in the form of a scanned copy, i.e. in the form of a file of respective format (DOC, DOCX, PDF, JPEG, XLS or XLSX).
4. VERIFYING AND ASSESSING THE SUBMITTED DOCUMENTS AND INFORMATION
13. Conformity of the documents and information submitted by the applicant with the criteria prescribed by Annex No 1 approved under this Decision shall be verified and assessed based on the documents submitted and the information contained therein, by verifying their validity, completeness and authenticity.
14. The Committee shall, within 5 working days upon submitting to the Committee the documents and information provided for by point 7 of this Annex, notify, via the e-mail address indicated in the application of the applicant, of the shortcomings existing in the submitted documents and information and shall recommend to complete, within 5 working days, the documents, information or to eliminate the shortcomings existing therein.
15. After the shortcomings referred to in point 14 of this Annex are eliminated, the submitted application shall be deemed as accepted on the date of initial submission of the application.
16. The Chairperson of the Committee may apply to state bodies with the aim of verifying the authenticity of the information, referred to in paragraph “d” of sub-point 1 and paragraph “b” of sub-point 2 of point 7 of this Annex, submitted by the applicant and the head of the executive body of the applicant.
17. The criterion prescribed by sub-points 1 and 2 of point 3 of Annex No 1 approved under this Decision shall be verified upon the excerpt taken from the electronic system of the State Register of Legal Entities of the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Armenia. The criteria prescribed by sub-points 1 and 2 of point 3 of Annex No 1 approved under this Decision shall be deemed as met, where:
(1) the association of persons providing tourism services is registered, as a non-commercial organisation, in the Agency for State Register of Legal Entities of the Ministry of Justice at least 2 years prior to the moment of applying;
(2) no record exists in the register for dissolution or bankruptcy of the association of persons providing tourism services.
18. The criterion prescribed by sub-point 3 of point 3 of Annex No 1 approved under this Decision shall be verified based on the list submitted by the applicant or other documents submitted by the applicant (membership applications, lists of payments of membership fees, etc.). In order to verify the authenticity of the information submitted by the association of persons providing tourism services, the Committee may, upon necessity, make direct inquiries to the members indicated in the list.
19. The criterion prescribed by sub-points 4 and 5 of point 3 of Annex No 1 approved under this Decision shall be considered as met, if the applicant has submitted a document issued by the institution granting international qualification, referred to in sub-point 4 of point 7 of this Annex.
20. The criterion prescribed by sub-point 6 of point 3 of Annex No 1 approved under this Decision shall be verified through the information system at “www.datalex.am” or by sending an inquiry to the Judicial Department.
21. The criterion prescribed by sub-point 7 of point 3 of Annex No 1 approved under this Decision shall be verified on the basis of the inquiries made to the Competition Protection Commission. The criterion prescribed by sub-point 7 of point 3 of Annex No 1 approved under this Decision shall be considered as met, if no final administrative act, entered into force and not subject to appeal (non-appealable administrative act), was rendered by the Competition Protection Commission against the applicant.
22. The criterion prescribed by sub-point 8 of point 3 of Annex No 1 approved under this Decision shall be verified on the basis of the documents submitted with regard to the head of the association of persons providing tourism services and by sending inquiries.
The criterion prescribed by sub-point 8 of point 3 of Annex No 1 approved under this Decision shall be considered as met, if the head of the executive body of the applicant has no previous criminal conviction or status of an accused person for economic crimes and does not hold the position of the head of executive body for the person providing hotel services or, in case of the functions of the executive body being delegated to a legal person — the position of the head of the executive body of the delegated company.
23. Where the documents and information submitted by the applicant meet the criteria prescribed by points 3 and 4 of Annex No 1 approved under this Decision, the winner shall be selected amongst the applicants meeting all criteria, according to the procedure established under point 45 of this Annex.
24. Where at least one of the criteria prescribed by points 3 and 4 of Annex No 1 approved under this Decision is not met, further consideration of the candidacy of the applicant shall be discontinued.
25. The inquiries provided for by points 18 and 21 of this Annex shall be made upon the consent of the association of persons providing tourism services, whereas the inquiry provided for by point 22 of this Annex shall be made upon the consent of the head of the executive body of the association of persons providing tourism services.
5. COMPOSITION AND RULES OF PROCEDURE OF THE COMPETITION COMMISSION
26. The commission shall be a body operating on non-permanent basis.
27. The first composition of the commission shall be approved upon the order of the Chairperson of the Committee within 1 month upon entry into force of this Decision. The time limit of appointment of each member of the commission shall be indicated in the order. Members of the commission shall perform their duties gratuitously.
28. The time limit of appointment of a member of the commission may not exceed 1 year, except for the Chairperson of the Committee or the person ex officio substituting him or her or the employees of the Committee whereto no restriction on the time limit of appointment applies.
29. The composition of the commission, the time limit of appointment of members and other amendments shall be approved upon the order of the Chairperson of the Committee. The Chairperson of the Committee shall be obliged to ensure permanent replenishment of the commission with members in the quantity provided for by point 30 of this Annex.
30. The commission shall be composed of 5 members, including:
(1) 3 employees of the Committee;
(2) 1 employee of the professional structural subdivision (subdivision responsible for legal assurance) supporting the state authorised body in the tourism sector;
(3) 1 lawyer or advocate (upon consent).
31. The Chairperson of the Committee or the person ex officio substituting him or her shall be a permanent member of the commission and shall direct the sessions of the commission.
32. The commission shall:
(1) verify the documents and information submitted by the applicant and determine, based thereon, the compliance of the applicant with the criteria prescribed by Annex No 1 approved under this Decision.
33. The chairperson of the commission shall:
(1) establish the quorum of the session at the beginning of the session;
(2) inform other persons invited to the session of the commission of the session being held behind closed doors (in case the session is held behind closed doors) and of the issues and other information, to be considered during the session, being not subject to publication;
(3) announce on adjournment or recess of the session of the commission;
(4) publish the agenda of the session;
(5) give the floor for a speech, as well as for asking or answering questions, remove the issues or order to discontinue the speeches not related with or irrelevant for the essence of issues considered at the session of the commission;
(6) announce the holding of voting;
(7) announce the end of the session of the commission;
(8) perform other functions to ensure the normal course of activities of the commission.
34. The commission shall organise its activities by convening sessions.
35. The commission shall have quorum, if attended by more than half of the members of the commission.
36. The secretary of sessions, appointed by the Chairperson of the Committee, shall participate in the sessions of the commission, whose functions shall be as follows:
(1) informing persons, invited to interview, of the session of the commission and the time of holding it;
(2) drawing up the protocol of the commission.
37. The secretary of the commission shall not be a member of the commission, shall not have the right to vote and may not express an opinion during the substantive discussions on any issue on the agenda.
38. The discussions held between members of the commission with regard to the applicant, as well as the ideas expressed by the members of the commission shall be included in the protocol of the commission only to their knowledge and upon their consent.
39. The discussions held between members of the commission shall be briefly incorporated in the protocol of the commission, which shall be signed by all members attending the session and having participated in voting.
40. Where the session of the commission fails to be held for any reason, the Committee shall convene a new session of the commission within one week from the moment of failure of holding it. The sessions of the commission may also be held remotely.
41. Where the session, including a remote session, of the commission fails to be held two or more consecutive times, the Chairperson of the Committee shall solely determine the winner, if at least one applicant participating in the competition has submitted documents and information meeting the criteria approved under this Decision.
42. In the case provided for by point 41 of this Annex, in the event of availability of more than one applicant, the Chairperson of the Committee shall determine the winner based on the decision of the commission, by taking as a basis the procedure referred to in point 45 of this Annex.
43. The procedure for convening, holding a session of the commission, that for organising voting, refusing to participate in voting due to conflict of interests, as well as other details on notifying the candidate of the results shall be established upon the order of the Chairperson of the Committee.
6. TIME LIMITS FOR ADOPTION OF DECISIONS UPON THE RESULTS OF COMPETITION, NOTIFYING THE APPLICANTS HAVING WON THE COMPETITION OF THE DECISIONS TAKEN, VALIDITY TERM OF THE RIGHT TO GRANT QUALIFICATION AND EXTENSION OF THE RIGHT TO GRANT QUALIFICATION
44. The competition commission shall select the winner based on the results of the competition.
45. Where more than one candidate simultaneously meet the criteria prescribed by Annex No 1 approved under this Decision, the applicant who appears to be a member of an institution granting international qualification having obtained the approval of the majority of votes of the members attending the session of the competition commission, shall be selected as winner.
46. Based on the decision of the commission, the Chairperson of the Committee shall adopt an order on recognising the winner of the competition, wherein among general conditions prescribed by the Law “On the fundamentals of administrative action and administrative proceedings”, the following shall be indicated:
(1) brand name, legal and organisational type and office address of the applicant having won the competition;
(2) name of the institution granting international qualification, which is taken as a basis for granting qualification;
(3) time limit of exercising the right to grant qualification to entities of hotel industry;
(4) effective period of the order;
(5) other details.
47. Based on the results of the decision adopted by the commission, the order of the Chairperson of the Committee shall be forwarded, via e-mail, to the applicant within 3 working days after delivery of the decision by the commission.
48. A contract shall be concluded with the applicant having won the competition.
49. The effective period of the order shall start to run upon concluding the contract, referred to in point 48 of this Annex, with the applicant having won the competition, and shall comprise 10 (ten) years.
50. In case of failure, by the applicant having won the competition, to fulfil the obligations provided for by the contract prescribed by point 48 of this Annex within the prescribed time limit, the Chairperson of the Committee shall adopt an order on declaring the results of the competition as invalid and on depriving the applicant having won the competition of the right to grant qualification to entities of hotel industry and on unilaterally rescinding the contract provided for by point 48 of this Annex.
51. The applicant having won the competition shall be entitled to grant qualification to entities of hotel industry upon entry into force of the order provided for by point 46 of this Annex, and it shall be valid for 10 (ten) years.
52. The order shall be published on the Internet website of the Committee.
53. The applicant having won the competition shall, within 1 month prior to the expiry of the effective period of the order provided for by point 46 of this Annex, have the right to apply to the Committee with a request of extending the effective period of the order for the same term, if, during the effective period of the order, no violations were detected in the process of granting qualification, and the association of persons providing tourism services still meets the criteria provided for by Annex No 1 approved under this Decision.
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Deputy Chief of Staff to the Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia |
A. Khachatryan |
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26 September 2025 CERTIFIED BY ELECTRONIC SIGNATURE |
Date of official promulgation: 26 September 2025.
Translation published on a joint site 26 May 2026.