DECISION OF THE GOVERNMENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF ARMENIA ON DEFINING THE QUALIFICATION REQUIREMENTS AND PROCEDURE FOR TOUR GUIDES AND GUIDES

OFFICIAL TRANSLATION

 

DECISION

 

OF THE GOVERNMENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF ARMENIA

 

No 383-N of 26 March 2026

 

ON DEFINING THE QUALIFICATION REQUIREMENTS AND PROCEDURE FOR TOUR GUIDES AND GUIDES

 

Guided by part 2 of Article 18 of the Law "On tourism", the Government of the Republic of Armenia hereby decides:

1. To define:

(1) the qualification requirements for tour guides, pursuant to Annex No 1;

(2) the procedure for qualification of tour guides, pursuant to Annex No 2;

(3) the programme of, procedure for, frequency of and time limits for the training of tour guides, pursuant to Annex No 3;

(4) the validity period of the certificate of qualification of tour guides, pursuant to Annex No 4;

(5) the form of the certificate of qualification of tour guides, pursuant to Annex No 5;

(6) the form of the badge of tour guides, pursuant to Annex No 6;

(7) areas of specialisation of tour guides, pursuant to Annex No 7;

(8) grounds for termination of qualification of tour guides, pursuant to Annex No 8;

(9) qualification requirements for guides, pursuant to Annex No 9;

(10) the qualification procedure for guides, pursuant to Annex No 10;

(11) the programme of, procedure for, frequency of and time limits for training of guides, pursuant to Annex No 11;

(12) the validity period of the certificate of qualification of guides, pursuant to Annex No 12;

(13) the form of the certificate of qualification of guides, pursuant to Annex No 13;

(14) the form of the badge of guides, pursuant to Annex No 14;

(15) areas of specialisation of guides, pursuant to Annex No 15;

(16) grounds for termination of the qualifications of guides, pursuant to Annex No 16;

(17) the form of the application for the qualification of tour guide, pursuant to Annex No 17;

(18) the form of the application for the qualification of guide, pursuant to Annex No 18.

2. This Decision shall enter into force on 1 September 2026.

3. To prescribe that:

(1) before 1 January 2028, Tour guides and guides having notified of their activities as prescribed by the Law "On notification of carrying out activities" may participate in professional qualification and training courses and qualify on a voluntary basis;

(2) after 1 March 2028, tour guides and guides having notified of their activities as prescribed by the Law "On notification of carrying out activities" must be qualified.

 

Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia	N. Pashinyan
Yerevan

 

30 March 2026 CERTIFIED BY ELECTRONIC SIGNATURE

Annex No 1 to the Decision of the Government of the Republic of Armenia N 383-N of 26 March 2026

 

QUALIFICATION REQUIREMENTS FOR TOUR GUIDES

 

1. GENERAL PROVISIONS

 

1. The following main concepts shall be used in this Annex:

(1) candidate — a natural person who applies for obtaining qualification of tour guide in accordance with this Procedure,

(2) language skill — the ability to master a foreign language — to communicate freely in it, express thoughts fluently in a foreign language, and to reproduce a read text in a foreign language.

2. Other terms used in this Annex No 1 shall have the meaning applied in the Law "On tourism".

3. The regulations prescribed by this Annex No 1 shall not cover persons exempt from the notification of carrying out activities of tour guide on the ground prescribed by part 3 of Article 18 of the Law "On tourism".

 

2. GENERAL AND SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS FOR QUALIFICATION OF TOUR GUIDES

 

4. At the moment of applying for the qualification of tour guide, the candidate and the tour guide must meet the following general requirements for qualification of tour guide throughout their activities:

(1) have the full civil active legal capacity prescribed by Article 24 of the Civil Code of the Republic of Armenia;

(2) have a command of the Armenian;

(3) the grounds for rejection of record-registration as an individual entrepreneur, prescribed by point 3 of part 1 of Article 28 of the Law "On state registration of legal persons, state record-registration of separated sub-divisions, institutions of legal persons and individual entrepreneurs" shall not exist with the candidate;

(4) in case of applying for qualification through the procedures provided for by point 4 and sub-points 1 and 3 of point 5 of Annex 2 approved by this Decision, have a certificate of completion of training provided for by Annex 3 approved by this Decision, and in case of applying for qualification through the procedure provided for by sub-point 2 of point 5 of Annex 2 approved by this Decision, have a licence certificate based on Decision of the Government of the Republic of Armenia No 945-N of 10 June 2004;

(5) according to the specialisation area, meet the additional requirements for qualification of tour guide, prescribed by Chapter 3 of this Annex 1.

5. The candidate must meet the following special requirements:

(1) have the following skills:

a. communication — the ability to effectively structure oral speech, formulate thoughts briefly, fluently, freely, and perceptibly, and to convey them to the audience, to interpret information about the nature and cultural heritage effectively, comprehensibly and accessibly, the ability to speak, use the "body language" and establish eye-contact, and the capability to pay attention to the details of natural and historical and cultural monuments, works of art and culture, and to convey them to the audience with interest;

b. to present the material — to be able to present the information in a logical sequence and with a unique expression style, which may be assessed by the following criteria: the logicality of the structure of the material (clarity and logic of the organisation of the presentation of the topic), accessibility of the content (simplicity and comprehensibility of the presentation for potential audiences), attractiveness of the material (interest of the presentation through rich vocabulary, uncomplicated thoughts, and engagement of the potential audience), ability of live and dynamic presentation (attractiveness of the reporting form and the level of avoiding boredom, which is manifested in the possibility to engage potential listeners during the presentation and use an active, negotiation style);

c. leadership — the ability to guide a tourist or group of tourists in observance of the schedule, based on the management principles (planning, organising, controlling, and communicating). This skill shall include the following: it stimulates the interest, maintains the energy and engagement of the group, supports each tourist with a calm, patient, and engaging approach, manages the movement, rhythm, and attention of the group, ensuring that everyone stays together and participates in the process, responds to the needs of guests, ensures mutual respect, constantly monitors the safety, discipline and dynamics of the group, and builds mutual respect and trust;

d. research and analytical — the ability to effectively use libraries or computer resources and electronic libraries, collect accurate information from reliable original sources, to analyse the obtained data in a clear and accurate manner, and to draw applicable and reliable conclusions. This skill must be assessed by the following criteria: information search and collection — the ability to search for data in various, reliable sources, such as computer resources and digital libraries; information analysis — the accuracy of the material obtained and the structured presentation of the information in a clear and comprehensible manner; information verification — exclusion of false or unreliable information through analysis and the assessment of sources; research skills —obtaining of new information and the ability to draw applicable conclusions based thereon; ability to provide information relevant to national developments when answering questions of tourists, by presenting safe and reliable information;

e. organisational — the ability to quickly orientate himself or herself, quickly understand the essence of the problem in emergency or conflict situations, take steps to overcome them, and properly implement them within the powers vested in the tour guide, in observance of the legislation of the Republic of Armenia;

(2) be aware of the nature of services provided by state bodies providing emergency, urgent and first aid services, operating in the Republic of Armenia, the locations of these services in the area covered by the activities of the tour guide in the area of specialisation, the ways of contacting these state and private bodies and the time limits usually required for receiving such aid;

(3) know the procedure for acting in emergency situation and accidents, as well as be informed about the rules of providing first aid,

(4) master and maintain and use — during activities — standards of civilised behaviour and generally accepted norms of ethics in communication during their activities, master the non-discrimination requirements, which shall include at least the following:

a. exclusion of all types of discrimination against tourists;

b. exclusion of any form of disrespect for tourists or making public comments that are intended to impair the dignity of a tourist or insult a group of tourists;

c. avoidance of arguments with tourists and management of conflict situations;

d. preclusion of making statements or displaying manner of activity on the social networks or in public, which are offensive to tourists;

e. keeping social distance with tourists;

f. tolerance toward and respect for different cultures, their bearers, as well as the cultural, spiritual, customary and behavioural peculiarities of different groups, which is manifested by respect for the cultures, traditions and behavioural patterns of those groups, when they do not contradict the legislation of the Republic of Armenia, human rights, public order and social solidarity, as well as do not violate the principles of the legal system of the country, within the framework of ensuring public security and public peace;

g. proper performance of the contract on provision of tour guide services and exclusion of unreasonable refusal to provide services under the contract;

(5) be informed about the structure of the State, the state administration system of the Republic of Armenia, the history of Armenia and the Armenian people, religion and historical and cultural heritage thereof, the history of the Armenian Genocide, in accordance with the legislation of the Republic of Armenia and the historical facts, and exclude the presentation of misinformation thereon;

(6) possess information on specially protected nature areas (state reserves, national parks, state sanctuaries and monuments of nature), as well as the species of the flora and fauna typical of the given tourist area, and exclude the presentation of misinformation thereon.

 

3. ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS FOR QUALIFICATION OF TOUR GUIDES

 

6. In order to provide tourist guide services in the field of incoming tourism, the candidate must have a language skill.

7. Candidate may provide tour guide services to tourists with hearing impairments, if the candidate has command of the sign language interpretation or if, under the contract on provision of tour guide services, the entity of tourism activity has undertaken to ensure the availability of sign language interpretation.

8. If, according to the area of specialisation, activities of the tour guide will be carried out throughout the entire territory of the Republic of Armenia, the candidate must have higher education or at least secondary vocational education in the sector of tourism.

 

Chief of Staff to the Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia

A. HARUTYUNYAN

 

30 March 2026 CERTIFIED BY ELECTRONIC SIGNATURE

 

Annex No 2 to the Decision of the Government of the Republic of Armenia N 383-N of 26 March 2026

 

PROCEDURE FOR QUALIFICATION OF TOUR GUIDES

 

1. GENERAL PROVISIONS

 

1. The following main concepts shall be used in this Annex No 2:

(1) commission — a collegial body established upon the order of the Chairperson of the Tourism Committee, which renders the decisions provided for by this Annex 2 in observance of the procedures defined by this Annex 2;

(2) candidate — a natural person provided for by sub-point 1 of point 1 of Annex 1 approved by this Decision;

(3) interview — an interview conducted as provided for by Chapter 9 of this Annex 2;

(4) language skills — the capacity provided for by sub-point 2 of point 1 of Annex 1 approved by this Decision;

(5) practical excursion — a simulation of a real excursion conducted with the candidate on foot, by bus or other means of transport, on a topic, by a route and at a location determined in advance by the commission.

2. Other concepts used in this Annex 2 shall have the meaning applied in the Law "On tourism".

 

2. QUALIFICATION PROCEDURES AND GROUPS OF QUALIFYING CANDIDATES

 

3. The qualification of the candidate shall be conducted through the following procedures:

(1) simplified procedure;

(2) accelerated procedure;

(3) regular procedure.

4. A candidate having undergone training by the training course for the time period provided for by sub-point 1 of point 3 of Annex 3 approved by this Decision shall be qualified through the simplified procedure.

5. The following candidates shall be qualified through the accelerated procedure:

(1) a candidate having obtained a tour guide licence on the basis of Decision of the Government No 945-N of 10 June 2004 "On approving the procedure for licensing of activities of the tour guide and the guide and the form of the licence" and having undergone training by the training course provided for by sub-point 2 of point 2 of Annex 3 approved by this Decision;

(2) a candidate having obtained a tour guide licence on the basis of Decision of the Government No 945-N of 10 June 2004 "On approving the procedure for licensing of activities of the tour guide and the guide and the form of the licence" and having 3 (three) years of professional work record as a tour guide prior to the moment of applying;

(3) a candidate having professional work record as a tour guide and having undergone training by the training course provided for by sub-point 2 of point 3 of Annex 3 approved by this Decision, if — at the moment of applying — the candidate meets the general and special requirements for qualification of tour guide, defined by points 4-5 of Annex 1 approved by this Decision, and the additional requirements for qualification of tour guide prescribed by Chapter 3 of Annex 1 approved by this Decision;

(4) a candidate having carried out activities of tour guide in a foreign state under the relevant international treaties of the Republic of Armenia and having undergone training by the training course provided for by sub-point 2 of point 3 of Annex 3 approved by this Decision, who has obtained the qualification of tour guide from the competent authority of the given foreign state or a licence for activities of tour guide, certification issued by the given foreign state, or an equivalent accreditation recognised by the state in another form, prior to applying for the qualification of tour guide.

6. A candidate not meeting the requirements defined for the simplified or the accelerated procedures or having expressed a desire to qualify through the regular procedure shall be qualified through the regular procedure.

 

3. DOCUMENTS REQUIRED FROM CANDIDATES AND THE PROCEDURE FOR SUBMISSION OF DOCUMENTS

 

7. Regardless of the type of procedure, the candidate shall submit electronically, via the platform operating at tourism.gov.am (and in case of impossibility of electronic submission — in hard copy) to the Committee the following documents and information:

(1) a completed application approved by Annex 17 to this Decision;

(2) the scanned copy of the identification document (in JPEG or PDF format);

(3) one 3cm x 4cm colour photograph taken within the 6 months preceding the moment of application (in hard copy) or the photograph in JPEG or PDF format;

(4) in the case of a candidate who is not a citizen of the Republic of Armenia, a document obtained from an educational institution, confirming the knowledge of the Armenian, or a short video maximum five minutes long on any topic in Armenian, or a statement of information by public associations performing functions of representation of tour guides registered and operating in the Republic of Armenia;

(5) the carbon copy of a certificate, attestation, diploma and transcripts issued by a general education, secondary vocational or higher education institution, confirming the education in the preferred foreign language of the candidate for the job of the tour guide, as well as the Armenian translation of the certificate, attestation, diploma and transcripts certified through notarial procedure, or a short video maximum five minutes long on any topic in the given foreign language, or a statement of information by public associations performing functions of representation of tour guides registered and operating in the Republic of Armenia (in case of carrying out the job of the tour guide in a foreign language and checking the language requirement);

(6) a diploma awarded for carrying out sign language interpretation, or a certificate of completion defined for undergoing training equivalent to such education, and where issued in a foreign language, the Armenian translation of the diploma or certificate of completion certified through notarial procedure (in case of checking the sign language interpretation requirement);

(7) the carbon copy of the diploma on having higher education (where available) and of the transcript thereof, and where issued in a foreign language, the Armenian translation of the diploma and of the transcript certified through notarial procedure (for a tour guide with nationwide area of specialisation);

(8) the carbon copy of the diploma on having at least secondary vocational education in the sector of tourism and of the transcript thereof, and where issued in a foreign language, the Armenian translation of the diploma and the transcript approved through notarial procedure (for a tour guide with a nationwide area of specialisation);

(9) documents confirming the fact of having full civil active legal capacity under Article 24 of the Civil Code of the Republic of Armenia;

(10) the carbon copy of the receipt of payment of the state duty in the amount prescribed by the Law of the Republic of Armenia "On state duty".

8. The documents provided for by sub-points 4-5 of point 7 of this Annex 2 shall not be submitted, if they have been submitted as part of the documents provided for by sub-points 7-8 of the same point.

9. In addition to the documents defined by point 7 of this Annex 2, a candidate qualifying through the simplified procedure on the basis of point 4 of this Annex 2 shall submit to the Committee the certificate of completion of the training course provided for by sub-point 1 of point 3 of Annex 3 approved by this Decision and the transcript thereof.

10. In addition to the documents defined by point 7 of this Annex 2, a candidate qualifying through the accelerated procedure on the basis of sub-point 1 of point 5 of this Annex 2 shall submit the following to the Committee:

(1) the carbon copy of the tour guide licence issued on the basis of Decision of the Government No 945-N of 10 June 2004 "On approving the procedure for licensing the activities of the tour guide and the guide and the form of the licence";

(2) the certificate of completion of the training course provided for by sub-point 2 of point 3 of Annex 3 approved by this Decision and the transcript thereof.

11. In addition to the documents defined by point 7 of this Annex 2, a candidate qualifying through the accelerated procedure on the basis of sub-point 2 of point 5 of this Annex 2 shall submit the following to the Committee:

(1) the carbon copy of the tour guide licence issued on the basis of Decision of the Government No 945-N of 10 June 2004 "On approving the procedure for licensing the activities of the tour guide and the guide and the form of the licence";

(2) at least 1, but no more than 3 statements of information from an entity of tourism activity registered and operating in the Republic of Armenia or in a foreign state that is a party to the relevant international treaties of the Republic of Armenia or, prior to the entry into force of this Decision, a statement of information on membership in public associations performing functions of representation of tour guides registered and operating in the Republic of Armenia, issued by the given public association, which must indicate at least the following:

a. the details of the identification document of the candidate, which shall be identical to the details of the identification document specified in Annex 17 approved by this Decision;

b. the month, year, and day of the membership of the candidate in the public association;

c. information on whether or not the membership has been suspended or terminated;

d. information on whether or not the candidate provided for by the statute of a public association has been subjected to disciplinary liability as a member of that association, and in case of having subjected the candidate to disciplinary liability, the ground for and description of the disciplinary violation;

e. the ability of the candidate to maintain compliance with the standards of civilized behaviour and generally accepted norms of ethics;

f. the fact of performance of functions of a tour guide by the candidate, indicating the time period and the detailed description of the functions.

12. In addition to the documents defined by point 7 of this Annex 2, a candidate qualifying through the accelerated procedure on the basis of sub-point 3 of point 5 of this Annex 2 shall submit the following to the Committee:

(1) the certificate of completion of the training course provided for by sub-point 2 of point 3 of Annex 3 approved by this Decision and the transcript thereof;

(2) at least 1, but no more than 3 statements of information from an entity of tourism activity registered and operating in the Republic of Armenia or in a foreign state that is a party to the relevant international treaties of the Republic of Armenia or, prior to the entry into force of this Decision, a statement of information from a public association performing functions of representation of tour guides registered and operating in the Republic of Armenia, regarding the membership in that association, which must indicate at least the following:

a. the details of the identification document of the candidate, which shall be identical to the details of the identification document specified in Annex 17 approved by this Decision;

b. the month, year, and date of the membership of the candidate in the public association;

c. information on whether or not the membership is has been suspended or terminated;

d. information on whether or not the candidate provided for by the statute of a public association has been subjected to disciplinary liability as a member of that association, and in case of having subjected the candidate to disciplinary liability, the ground for and description of the disciplinary violation;

e. the ability of the candidate to maintain compliance with the standards of civilised behaviour and generally accepted norms of ethics;

f. the fact of performance of functions of a tour guide by the candidate, indicating the time period and the detailed description of the functions.

13. In addition to the documents defined by point 7 of this Annex 2, a candidate qualifying through the accelerated procedure on the basis of sub-point 4 of point 5 of this Annex 2 shall submit the following to the Committee:

(1) the carbon copy of the qualification, licence of tour guide issued by the competent authority of a state that is a party to the relevant international treaties of the Republic of Armenia or of another equivalent accreditation recognised by the given state in another form, as well as the Armenian translation approved through notarial procedure;

(2) the certificate of completion of the training course provided for by sub-point 2 of point 3 of Annex 3 approved by this Decision and the transcript thereof;

(3) at least 1, but no more than 3 statements of information from an entity of tourism activity registered and operating in the Republic of Armenia or in a foreign state that is a party to the relevant international treaties of the Republic of Armenia, which shall provide at least the following information:

a. the details of the identification document of the candidate, which shall be identical to the details of the identification document specified in Annex 17 approved by this Decision;

b. the ability of the candidate to maintain compliance with the standards of civilized behaviour and generally accepted norms of ethics;

c. the nature of the legal relationship having previously had with the candidate — the carbon copy and the duration of a current or past employment or civil law contract (contracts) with the candidate, as well as information on having previously engaged the candidate as a tour guide under an employment or service provision contract, indicating the duration of the engagement (in days, months, and years);

d. information on complaints submitted by tourists regarding the candidate or the absence thereof. In case of existence of complaints, the ground for the complaint and the description of the measures taken by the entity of tourism activity shall be provided.

14. In addition to the documents defined by point 7 of this Annex 2, a candidate qualifying through the regular procedure on the basis of point 6 of this Annex 2 shall submit to the Committee a document to the effect that the written examination provided for by Chapter 6 of this Annex 2 is positive.

15. Persons applying through the regular procedure may apply after passing the written qualification examination.

16. In case of existence of shortcomings in the documents of the candidate groups undergoing qualification, provided for by this Annex, the Committee shall, within 7 working days from the day of submission of those documents to the Committee, notify the candidate — via electronic mail – of the shortcomings in the submitted documents and recommend to complete the documents, the information or to correct the shortcomings found therein within 15 working days.

17. The recommendation of the Committee, defined by point 16 of this Annex 2, shall be deemed rejected by the candidate, if the candidate refuses — via electronic mail — to complete the documents, the information, or to correct the shortcomings found therein, or leaves the proposal without response. In case of submission of additional documents, the calculation of the time limit for submission shall start running from the day of submission of the completed document.

 

4. QUALIFICATION THROUGH THE SIMPLIFIED PROCEDURE

 

18. The qualification of a candidate through the simplified procedure shall be carried out:

(1) through the verification of the carbon copies or scanned copies of the certificate issued as a result of the training course provided for by sub-point 1 of point 3 of Annex 3 approved by this Decision and the transcript thereof, confirming the compliance of the candidate with the requirements for qualification of tour guide provided for by this Decision;

(2) through an interview with the candidate conducted by the Commission, if by the results of assessing the compliance of the course or the skills or knowledge of the given candidate with this Decision as unsatisfactory as a result of the verification provided for by sub-point 1 of this point or the monitoring of the relevant training course by an employee of the Committee, the Chairperson of the Committee has assessed the compliance of the candidate with the requirements for qualification of tour guide as unsatisfactory.

19. The verification provided for by sub-point 1 of point 18 of this Annex 2 shall be carried out by the Committee within 7 working days from the day of receipt of the final package of the documents provided for by Chapter 3 of this Annex 2 from the candidate.

20. By the results of the verification provided for by sub-point 1 of point 18 of this Annex 2, the Chairperson of the Committee renders one of the following decisions:

(1) to confirm the compliance of the candidate with the requirements for qualification of tour guide and grant the qualification of tour guide;

(2) to consider the compliance of the candidate with the requirements for qualification of tour guide as unsatisfactory and invite the candidate for an interview;

(3) to confirm the non-compliance of the candidate with the requirements for qualification of tour guide and reject to grant the qualification.

21. On the basis of the decision defined by sub-point 2 of point 20 of this Annex 2, the Chairperson of the Committee shall organise the interview with the candidate, by including the issue on the agenda of the upcoming sitting of the commission not having been completed yet or by convening an extraordinary sitting of the commission.

 

5. QUALIFICATION THROUGH THE ACCELERATED PROCEDURE

 

22. The qualification of a candidate having applied for the qualification of tour guide through the accelerated procedure shall be carried out:

(1) through the verification of the carbon copies or scanned copies of the certificate issued as a result of the training course provided for by sub-point 2 of point 3 of Annex 3 approved by this Decision and the transcript thereof, confirming the compliance of the candidate with the requirements for qualification of tour guide provided for by this Decision;

(2) through an interview with the candidate conducted by the Commission, if by the results of assessing the compliance of the course or the skills or knowledge of the given candidate with this Decision as unsatisfactory as a result of the verification provided for by sub-point 1 of this point or the monitoring of the relevant training course by an employee of the Committee, the Chairperson of the Committee has assessed the compliance of the candidate with the requirements for qualification of tour guide as unsatisfactory.

23. The verification provided for by sub-point 1 of point 22 of this Annex 2 shall be carried out by the Committee within 7 working days from the day of receipt of the final package of the documents provided for by Chapter 3 of this Annex 2 from the candidate.

24. By the results of the verification provided for by sub-point 1 of point 22 of this Annex 2 and the assessment, the Chairperson of the Committee shall render one of the following decisions:

(1) to confirm the compliance of the candidate with the requirements for qualification of tour guide and grant the qualification of tour guide;

(2) to confirm the compliance of the candidate with the general requirements for qualification of tour guide approved by this Decision and invite the candidate for an interview in order to assess the compliance with the special and additional requirements defined by Annex 1 to this Decision;

(3) to confirm the non-compliance of the candidate with the requirements for qualification of tour guide and reject to grant the qualification of tour guide.

25. On the basis of the decision defined by sub-point 2 of point 24 of this Annex 2, the Chairperson of the Committee shall organise the interview with the candidate, by including the issue on the agenda of the upcoming sitting of the commission not completed yet or by convening an extraordinary sitting of the commission.

 

6. QUALIFICATION THROUGH THE REGULAR PROCEDURE

 

26. The qualification of a candidate through the regular procedure shall be conducted in two stages:

(1) written examination, which may be computer-based;

(2) interview (oral stage) and, where necessary, a practical excursion.

27. A candidate qualifying through the regular procedure shall participate in a written examination through a questionnaire drawn up by the Committee or an organisation outsourced thereby.

28. The Committee may outsource, on a competitive basis, the preparation of the questionnaire and the conduct of the written examination to another organisation for a period of five years, the requirements set for and the procedure for the selection whereof shall be approved by the head of the state authorised body within a period of 1 month following the adoption of this Decision.

29. In case of conduct of the written examination by an outsourced organisation, the procedure for drawing up examination tests, making amendments and supplements thereto, enrolling candidates for participating in examinations, accepting documents, conducting examinations, summarising, appealing the results of the examination, as well as submitting the necessary documents to the Committee shall be defined by the Committee within a period of 1 month following the adoption of this Decision.

30. In order to participate in the written examination, candidates must enrol in advance. The candidates may enrol by entering data on the official website of the Committee or the website of the outsourced organisation, or by telephone number.

31. For the purpose of enrolment, exact dates of examination shall be defined for each quarter, the information whereon shall be published on the official website of the Committee no later than by the 10th of the month preceding the first month of the given quarter.

32. Candidates may enrol on any day and at any hour, by leaving a relevant message via the telephone number posted on the official website of the Committee, on the information indicated below:

(1) name, surname, and the number of the passport or another identification document;

(2) area of specialisation of the qualification of tour guide;

(3) month, day and time of participation in the examination, according to the published list (if desired);

(4) telephone number.

33. In case of enrolling via the official website of the Committee, candidates must inform, in addition to the data defined by point 32 of this Annex 2, information on their electronic mail address.

34. In case of impossibility to conduct the examination on the day or at the time indicated by the candidate, or where no day or time for participating in the examination has been indicated by the candidate, the Committee or an employee of the outsourced organisation shall — within three working days following the day of enrolment of the candidate — notify the candidate of the next possible day and time for conducting the examination.

35. Candidates shall participate in the examination by submitting the following on the day of examination:

(1) passport or another identification document and the carbon copy thereof;

(2) carbon copy of the document confirming the payment of the state duty.

36. Irrespective of the area of specialisation, a written examination conducted through the regular procedure shall be allowed to be taken no more than 3 times within a period of three years. In case of failing to pass the minimum examination score for three times, the candidate shall be deprived of the opportunity to take the written examination for a period of one year, considering the day of taking the written examination in any area of specialisation for the first time as the start of the calculation.

37. The written examination may be conducted via a computer programme, by a test questionnaire and 1 practical task.

38. The test shall be a document containing questions, drawn up on the basis of the list of topics defined by point 1 of Annex 3 approved by this Decision. The test questions shall be drawn up within a period of 2 months following the adoption of this Decision.

39. The practical task shall contain a question related to the activity of tour guide or a solution of а situational problem.

40. The tests, as well as amendments and supplements made thereto shall be approved by the decision of the Chairperson of the Committee and shall not be subject to publication. The tests shall be reviewed upon necessity.

41. The tests may be differentiated for candidates according to the areas of specialisation selected by the candidates taking the examination.

42. The test shall consist of 50 questions.

43. The maximum duration of the written examination shall be defined to be 120 minutes.

44. Each question in the test shall contain 4 possible answers, one of which shall be unequivocally correct and complete.

45. Upon the announcement of the commencement of the examination, a candidate shall familiarise with the tasks and shall select one answer (in his or her opinion, the most correct of those indicated) for each question (problem) from among the presumed answers.

46. During the examination, a candidate shall be prohibited from using printed, typed, handwritten materials or electronic devices, as well as from making noise, prompting, speaking, asking questions to persons present, or leaving the room. Where the candidate wishes to leave the room, his or her work shall be deemed terminated. In case of failure to comply with any of the indicated requirements, the candidate shall be deprived of the right to participate in the further process of the examination and shall be deemed to have achieved a negative result.

47. Upon completion of the work, as well as upon expiry of the time defined for doing the examination tasks, a candidate shall be provided with a report on the results of the test he or she has taken (in two copies), which shall reflect the scores of the candidate expressed in percentage, as well as the number of attempts made by the candidate to take the written examination.

48. The assessment of the questions of the written examination shall be conducted as follows:

(1) in case a candidate obtains up to 80 per cent of the maximum score, he or she shall be deemed to have achieved a negative result;

(2) in case the candidate obtains 80 per cent or more of the maximum score, he or she shall be deemed to have achieved a positive result.

49. A correct and complete answer to the test question shall be assessed by 1 point, whereas that of the practical task — 5 points. A wrong answer or failure to answer the question shall be assessed by 0points. The following shall be deemed wrong:

(1) the answer to the question which does not comply with the substantive requirements of the question is logically wrong and irrelevant to the topic;

(2) marking concurrently more than one answer to a question, the question presumes selection of only one correct answer;

(3) failure to mark any answer to the question or leaving the question unanswered when an answer is necessary.

50. The details relating to the organisation and conduct of the written examination, as well as the drawing up of questionnaires shall be defined upon the order of the Chairperson of the Committee within a period of 2 months following the adoption of this Decision. The questionnaires for the written examination and the list of relevant literature shall be published on the official website of the Committee.

51. Candidates may appeal the results of the conducted examination within 5 working days from the day of conducting the examination, by submitting a written application to the Chairperson of the Committee via electronic mail or in hard copy.

52. When examining a written appeal, the Committee may, where necessary, invite a relevant specialist.

53. When examining a written appeal, the Committee shall review the answer (answers) given by the participant at the relevant written examination and the mark (marks) awarded thereto, which may be changed (lowered or raised) by the Committee.

54. The Committee shall inform the appellant on the results of the appeal via electronic mail within 15 working days following receipt of the application.

55. The outsourced organisation conducting the written examination shall forward the results of answers to the test questions to the Chairperson of the Committee, whereas a candidate shall be issued with a certificate reflecting the obtained score expressed in percentage.

56. A candidate may, within a period of maximum 1 month after passing the written examination as provided for by this Chapter, submit to the Committee the documents provided for by Chapter 3 of this Annex 2 for organising the interview with the Committee.

57. The Chairperson of the Committee shall organise the interview with a candidate by including the issue on the agenda of the upcoming sitting of the commission not having been completed yet. When forming the agenda of the sitting of the commission, the issues of candidates having applied earlier shall be included on the agenda of the sitting of the commission in chronological order.

58. The commission shall — based on the results of the interview conducted with candidates qualifying through the regular procedure —render one of the following decisions:

(1) to approve the conformity of the candidate with the requirements for qualification of tour guide and grant the qualification of tour guide;

(2) to reject to grant the qualification of tour guide.

59. The decision provided for by sub-point 2 of point 58 of this Annex may be appealed by the candidate through judicial procedure, pursuant to the procedure prescribed by the legislation of the Republic of Armenia.

 

7. VERIFICATION AND ASSESSMENT OF THE COMPLIANCE OF THE CANDIDATE WITH THE QUALIFICATION REQUIREMENTS

 

60. Compliance with the requirements for qualification of tour guide provided for by this Decision shall be verified and assessed based on the documents submitted by the candidate and the information contained therein, by verifying their validity, completeness and authenticity, and in the cases provided for by this Decision — also based on an interview.

61. The Chairperson of the Committee may apply to state and local self-government bodies, as well as legal persons, institutions and private individuals pointed out or mentioned in the documents submitted by the candidate, for verifying the authenticity of the data submitted by the candidate, unless those data may be obtained through interoperability.

62. The requirement defined by sub-point 1 of point 4 of Annex 1 approved by this Decision shall be deemed met, where:

(1) the candidate has attained the age of 18;

(2) the candidate has attained the age of 16 and the candidate has submitted:

a. his or her marriage certificate;

b. labour contract concluded with him or her;

c. documents certifying the fact of engaging in entrepreneurial activity upon the consent of parents, adoptive parents or the curator.

63. The requirement defined by sub-point 2 of point 4 of Annex 1 approved by this Decision shall be deemed to be met for a candidate who is not a citizen of the Republic of Armenia, where the candidate has submitted a document defined by sub-point 4 of point 7 of this Annex 2.

64. During the interview, the language skills may also be tested and assessed by means of one or more of the following options simultaneously:

(1) a certificate issued by the results of an internationally acceptable examination for testing the command of the given foreign language;

(2) a diploma or another graduation document issued by language schools;

(3) a short video maximum five minutes long, in a foreign language on any topic.

65. The requirement for language skill may be deemed to be met without conducting an interview, where the training certificate of a candidate contains information certifying language capacities.

66. When testing the language skill during the interview, the candidate must be able to articulate his or her thoughts freely, communicate in the foreign language, including the ability to communicate in the foreign language in emergency situations.

67. When testing the language skill, a candidate may not use a dictionary.

68. Compliance with the requirement of sign language interpretation shall be verified and assessed by a certificate issued by an educational institution.

69. The compliance of the candidate with the special requirements for qualification of tour guide shall be verified and assessed by means of one or several of the following ways simultaneously:

(1) based on the analysis of written documents submitted by the candidate, including the certificate of completion of the training course and the transcript thereof;

(2) through an interview with the candidate;

(3) by conducting a practical excursion.

 

8. COMPOSITION AND PROCEDURE FOR OPERATION OF THE COMMISSION

 

70. The commission shall be a body operating on a non-permanent basis.

71. The first composition of the commission shall be approved upon the order of the Chairperson of the Committee within 3 months following the adoption of this Decision. The order shall indicate the term of appointment of each member of the commission.

72. The term of appointment of a member of the commission may not exceed 2 years, except for the Chairperson of the Committee or the person ex officio substituting him or her, or employee of the Committee whereto no restriction on the term of appointment applies.

73. The composition of the commission, the term of appointment of members thereof and other amendments shall be approved upon the order of the Chairperson of the Committee. The duty of the Chairperson of the Committee shall be to ensure that the commission is always staffed with the number of members provided for by this Annex 2․

74. The commission shall be composed of 11 members:

(1) 3 employees of the Committee;

(2) 1 employee of the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sports of the Republic of Armenia;

(3) 2 representatives from various public associations performing functions of representation of tour guides registered and operating in the Republic of Armenia;

(4) 1 scientist with a scientific degree in tourism or 1 specialist with at least five years of teaching experience in tourism;

(5) 1 specialist in the field of human resources management;

(6) 1 scientist with a scientific degree in philology or history;

(7) 1 scientist-psychologist with a scientific degree in psychology;

(8) a specialist in the tourism sector.

75. The Chairperson of the Committee or the person ex officio substituting him or her shall be a permanent member of the commission and shall preside over the sittings of the commission.

76. The commission shall:

(1) hold an interview;

(2) in the cases defined by this Decision, verify written documents submitted by the candidate and asses the compliance of the candidate with the requirements for qualification of the tour guide based on these documents;

(3) invite an interpreter for testing the knowledge of foreign language, and in case of a sign language interpretation — a sign language interpreter;

(4) ensure the conduct of the practical excursion for the candidate.

77. The Chairperson of the Commission or the person ex officio substituting him or her shall:

(1) establish the quorum of the sitting at the beginning of the sitting and the issue that absent members of the commission, as well as persons invited to the sitting of the commission have been duly notified;

(2) inform persons invited to the sitting of the commission that the sitting is closed (in case the sitting is held behind closed doors) and that the issues and other information discussed at the sitting are not subject to publication;

(3) announce the adjournment or recess of the sitting of the commission;

(4) publish the agenda of the sitting during the sitting;

(5) give the floor for a speech, as well as for asking or answering a question, remove the issues or terminate the speeches that do not relate to or are not relevant to the essence of issues discussed at the sitting of the commission;

(6) announce the holding of voting;

(7) render a decision on the time and place of publishing a decision with regard to each issue;

(8) announce the end of the sitting of the commission;

(9) perform other functions to ensure the normal activities of the commission.

78. The commission shall organise its activities by convening sittings.

79. The commission shall conduct sittings at least twice a month in case of existence of at least 1 application.

80. The commission shall have quorum, if attended by more than half of the members of the Commission.

81. The secretary of sittings, appointed by the Chairperson of the Committee, shall participate in the sittings of the commission, whose function shall be as follows:

(1) to notify, via electronic mail and telephone call, persons being invited to interview of the time and place of holding the sitting of the commission;

(2) to draw up the minutes of the commission.

82. 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.

83. Observations made by the members of the commission regarding the candidates shall be included in the minutes of the commission only upon their knowledge and consent.

84. The commission shall render a decision by secret ballot, on the basis of the principle of “one person, one vote”, by voting for or against. The number of votes for and against shall be included in the minutes.

85. The candidate shall be granted with the qualification of tour guide, if three quarters of the members of the commission participating in the sitting have voted for the decision to grant qualification thereto.

86. Discussions between members of the commission shall be briefly included in the minutes of the commission, which shall be signed by all members of the commission attending the sitting and having participated in voting.

87. The candidate shall have the right to obtain an extract from the minutes from the Committee, which must contain the part included in the minutes relating thereto.

88. The guidelines for convening, conducting a sitting of the commission, organising voting, assessing the interview of the candidate, the procedure for refusing to participate in voting due to conflict of interests, as well as other details on notifying the candidate of the results shall be defined upon the order of the Chairperson of the Committee.

 

9. INTERVIEW

 

89. The Committee shall notify the candidate of the interview with the candidate by electronic mail and telephone number at least 7 working days before the day of holding the interview.

90. During the interview, each member of the commission attending the sitting of the commission shall assess the candidate participating in the interview.

91. In case the candidate participating in the interview is late for his or her individual interview time, he or she shall be considered as not having appeared for the interview, except for the case when the interview with the previous candidate in the sequence is not completed by the time he or she appears.

92. The maximum duration of the interview with the candidate shall be one hour.

93. The interview shall be run in two parts:

(1) introduction of the person (first part of the interview), maximum 5 minutes long;

(2) verification of compliance with the special requirements for qualification of tour guide (second part of the interview).

94. Members of the commission shall assess the candidate based on their moral certainty, based on the ability of the candidate to answer the questions correctly and the manner of presenting the answers.

95. During the interview, the knowledge of the candidate shall be tested within the scope of the topics defined by Annex 3 approved by this Decision.

96. As a result of the interview, the conduct of a practical tour may be envisaged upon the decision of the Commission.

 

10. TIME LIMITS FOR ADOPTION OF DECISIONS BY THE RESULTS OF QUALIFICATION PROCEDURES AND NOTIFICATION OF CANDIDATES OF DECISIONS

 

97. In the cases defined by this Annex 2, the Committee shall notify the candidate via electronic mail of decisions adopted by the Chairperson of the Committee within 3 working days following the adoption of the decision, attaching a scanned copy of the decision.

98. In the cases defined by this Annex 2, a decision rendered by the commission on any issue shall be rendered immediately after the discussion of the given issue included on the agenda of the commission.

99. In the cases provided for by this Annex 2, by the results of the decision adopted by the commission, the order of the Chairperson of the Committee shall be sent to the candidate via electronic mail within 5 working days following the rendering of the decision by the commission.

100. The candidate shall be invited to notify, along with the notification of decisions on granting the qualification of tour guide, of activities of tour guide as prescribed by the legislation of the Republic of Armenia, except for the case provided for by part 3 of Article 18 of the Law " On tourism", and shall be warned of the legal consequences prescribed for carrying out activities of a tour guide without notification.

 

11. ISSUANCE OF A CERTIFICATE OF QUALIFICATION AND A BADGE

 

101. Within 10 working days following the notification of activities of a tour guide as prescribed by the legislation of the Republic of Armenia, the tour guide shall receive the certificate of qualification and the badge of the tour guide from the Committee.

102. In case of losing the certificate of qualification or the badge, the tour guide may apply in writing to the Committee to receive a duplicate thereof. A new certificate or the badge shall be issued within 15 working days following the day of application.

 

Chief of Staff to the Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia

A. HARUTYUNYAN

 

30 March 2026 CERTIFIED BY ELECTRONIC SIGNATURE

 

Annex No 3 to the Decision of the Government of the Republic of Armenia N 383-N of 26 March 2026

 

PROGRAMME, PROCEDURE FOR, FREQUENCY OF AND TIME LIMITS FOR THE TRAINING OF TOUR GUIDES

 

1. GENERAL PROVISIONS

 

1. Regardless of the area of specialisation, with a view to ensuring the compliance of qualified tour guides and candidates meet with the general, special, and additional requirements defined by Annex 1 to this Decision, the training shall be conducted at least on the following topics:

(1) history of the Armenian language and literature;

(2) history of the Armenian people;

(3) ethnography, archaeology and popular folklore;

(4) flora and fauna of Armenia;

(5) Armenian architecture;

(6) ancient and modern Armenian art, Armenian painting and applied arts;

(7) geography of Armenia, the Armenian highlands and the region;

(8) foreign and economic relations;

(9) Armenian musical art and dance art;

(10) tourism resources of Armenia;

(11) Armenian cultural heritage;

(12) history of religion;

(13) history of the Armenian Apostolic Holy Church;

(14) Armenian cuisine;

(15) Constitution, general description of the State structure and the system of state administration;

(16) Law "On tourism", secondary regulatory legal acts adopted on the basis thereof and related legal acts;

(17) tour guide skills, including:

a. social psychology;

b. culture of speech and the art of articulation;

c. management of emergency situations;

d. inter-cultural communication and inclusion;

e. ethics,

(18) first aid;

(19) media literacy;

(20) hiking skills.

2. Based on the area of specialisation, training for local tour guides and candidates shall be conducted on at least the following topics:

(1) history of the Armenian people;

(2) tour guide skills, including:

a. social psychology;

b. culture of speech and the art of articulation;

c. management of emergency situations;

d. inter-cultural communication and inclusion;

e. ethics;

(3) geography of Armenia;

(4) hiking skills;

(5) at an advanced level, also the following on the administrative and territorial unit of Armenia which includes the place of activity of a local tour guide or a separate location included therein:

a․ folklore,

b. flora and fauna, specially protected nature areas (state reserves, national parks, state sanctuaries, and monuments of nature);

c. historical and cultural heritage,

d. history of arts,

e. tourism resources.

3. The time periods of training for candidates obtaining the qualification of tour guide shall be as follows:

(1) for candidates applying through the simplified procedure — 3 or 6 months, 20 or 12 academic hours per week, respectively;

(2) for candidates applying through the accelerated procedure under sub-points 1, 3 and 4 of point 5 of Annex 2 approved by this Decision — maximum 1 month, minimum 35 academic hours.

4. Every 3 years, the Chairperson of the Committee shall approve and review the content of the training programmes for candidates and the mandatory training programme for qualified tour guides, in discussion with tour guide associations and training organisations.

5. Qualified tour guides shall be obliged to undergo mandatory training for at least 35 academic hours every 3 years, of which at least 5 academic hours on the topics specified in sub-points 1-14 of point 1 of this Annex 3 and at least 5 academic hours on the topics specified in sub-points 17-18 of point 1 of this Annex 3.

6. The training programme for qualified tour guides may include topics not provided for by point 1 of Annex 3.

7. Qualified tour guides may be considered to have completed their mandatory training hours, if, during the given year, they have completed or delivered another course — conducted in the Republic of Armenia or in a foreign country, in person or remotely — that mostly or mainly covers the topics defined by point 1 of this Annex 3, except for the case defined by point 8 of this Annex 3.

8. The training of all tour guides on the topics defined by sub-points 17-18 of point 1 of this Annex 3 shall be mandatory.

9. The training designed for candidates and the mandatory training of qualified tour guides shall be conducted by the person having the competence of training based on part 4 of Article 18 of the Law "On tourism".

10. In the absence of the person provided for by part 4 of Article 18 of the Law "On tourism", the training may be conducted by the Committee or by a person or persons selected based on the established programme standards, list of literature approved by the Committee and the defined criteria.

11. During the training course, the Committee may conduct monitoring at any time.

12. Participation in the training course shall be concluded with relevant examinations.

13. In case of positive results in the examinations provided for by point 12 of this Annex No 3, a certificate of completion shall be issued, the transcript whereof shall include the results of the examinations.

 

Chief of Staff to the Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia

A. HARUTYUNYAN

 

30 March 2026 CERTIFIED BY ELECTRONIC SIGNATURE

 

Annex No 4 to the Decision of the Government of the Republic of Armenia N 383-N of 26 March 2026

 

VALIDITY PERIOD OF THE CERTIFICATE OF QUALIFICATION OF TOUR GUIDES

 

1. GENERAL PROVISIONS

 

1. The certificate of qualification shall be issued following the qualification through the procedure provided for by Annex 2 approved by this Decision and notification of activities of tour guide as prescribed by the legislation of the Republic of Armenia, within the time limit defined by Annex 2 approved by this Decision.

2. Certificates of qualification shall be issued as per sequential numbers.

3. Certificates of qualification shall be issued for a term of 3 years from the day of their signature.

4. The validity period of the certificate of qualification shall be extended for the period defined by point 3 of this Annex, as a result of the training provided for in point 5 of Annex 3 approved by this Decision and the examination provided for by point 12 of the same Annex.

 

Chief of Staff to the Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia

A. HARUTYUNYAN

 

30 March 2026 CERTIFIED BY ELECTRONIC SIGNATURE

 

Annex No 5 to the Decision of the Government of the Republic of Armenia N 383-N of 26 March 2026

 

FORM OF THE CERTIFICATE OF QUALIFICATION OF TOUR GUIDES

 

Chief of Staff to the Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia

A. HARUTYUNYAN

 

30 March 2026 CERTIFIED BY ELECTRONIC SIGNATURE

 

Annex No 6 to the Decision of the Government of the Republic of Armenia N 383-N of 26 March 2026

 

 

30 March 2026 CERTIFIED BY ELECTRONIC SIGNATURE

 

Annex No 7 to the Decision of the Government of the Republic of Armenia N 383-N of 26 March 2026

 

AREAS OF SPECIALISATION OF TOUR GUIDES

 

1. GENERAL PROVISIONS

 

1. According to the areas of specialisation, tour guides shall be classified as follows:

(1) national;

(2) local.

2. National tour guides may carry out activities of tour guide throughout the entire territory of the Republic of Armenia.

3. Local tour guides may carry out activities of tour guide only in the administrative districts of the administrative and territorial units of the Republic of Armenia completed in the application provided for by Annex 17 defined by this Decision at the moment of applying as a candidate for tour guide.

4. Tour guides specialised in the areas provided for by point 1 of this Annex may include hiking routes in the natural environment in the list of their services, where they have participated in the training course on the topic defined by sub-point 20 of point 1 of Annex 3 approved by this Decision.

 

Chief of Staff to the Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia

A. HARUTYUNYAN

 

30 March 2026 CERTIFIED BY ELECTRONIC SIGNATURE

 

Annex No 8 to the Decision of the Government of the Republic of Armenia N 383-N of 26 March 2026

 

GROUNDS FOR TERMINATION OF QUALIFICATION OF TROUR GUIDES

 

The qualification of a tour guide shall be terminated, if:

(1) the grounds prescribed by parts 4-5 of Article 9 of the Law "On tourism" have arisen, or the qualifying person has been deprived of the certificate of qualification;

(2) he or she has been removed from record-registration as an individual entrepreneur;

(3) the validity period of the certificate of qualification has expired and the qualified person has not undergone the training provided for by point 5 of Annex 3 defined by this Decision, and the person has not obtained a new certificate of qualification as a result of the examination provided for by point 12 of the same Annex;

(4) he or she has been declared having no active legal capacity;

(5) he or she has died.

 

Chief of Staff to the Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia

A. HARUTYUNYAN

 

30 March 2026 CERTIFIED BY ELECTRONIC SIGNATURE

 

Annex No 9 to the Decision of the Government of the Republic of Armenia N 383-N of 26 March 2026

 

REQUIREMENTS FOR QUALIFICATION OF GUIDES

 

1. GENERAL PROVISIONS

 

1. The following concept shall be used in this Annex 9:

(1) candidate – a natural person meeting the general and special requirements for qualification of guide, prescribed by points 4-5 of this Annex 9, as well as, where relevant, the additional requirements for qualification of guide, prescribed by Chapter 3 of Annex 9, who applies for obtaining the qualification of guide.

2. Other concepts used in this Annex 9 shall have the meaning applied in the Law “On tourism”.

3. The regulations defined by this Annex 9 shall not cover persons exempt from the notification of carrying out activities of a guide upon the ground prescribed by part 3 of Article 18 of the Law “On tourism”.

 

2. GENERAL AND SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS FOR QUALIFICATION OF GUIDES

 

4. At the moment of applying, the candidate must meet the following general requirements for qualification of guide:

(1) have attained the age of 18;

(2) have command of Armenian;

(3) be physically fit, which will be possible to assess during the training;

(4) not suffer from the diseases prescribed by points 1-16, 19, 23-29, and 36-39 of Annex 1 to Decision of the Government of the Republic of Armenia No 404-N of 12 April 2018 or from any one of them;

(5) when providing services, have life and health insurance against accidents and incidents, the coverage of which must at least include search and rescue operations, and helicopter evacuation;

(6) the grounds for rejection of record-registration as an individual entrepreneur, prescribed by point 3 of part 1 of Article 28 of the Law "On state registration of legal persons, state record-registration of separated sub-divisions, institutions of legal persons and individual entrepreneurs" shall be missing with the candidate.

5. The Candidate must meet the following special requirements:

(1) have the following skills:

a. linguistic — the ability to conduct everyday communication in a foreign language and explain professional terms to a tourist comprehensibly, understand the questions posed, respond to questions and, where necessary, provide instruction (training) on the use of technical, individual, and collective protective measures;

b. communication skills — the ability to effectively structure oral speech, reproduce thoughts in a structured manner, convey capabilities related to the use of individual and collective protective measures to the audience in an accessible and simplified manner, patiently demonstrate their use by personal example, to present information on climate conditions and other information in a comprehensible and accessible manner, and the ability to use body language and establish eye contact;

c. leadership — when leading a group of at least 5 persons, the ability to organise the route so that it meets the needs of the tourist and is as safe and convenient as possible, taking into account the physical, mobility, visual, hearing and other limited capacities of group members, ensuring the maximum accessibility of the route for them;

d. management — the ability to quickly orientate himself or herself, quickly understand the essence of the problem in emergency or conflict situations, take steps to overcome them, and assist tourists with services provided to consumers within the scope of the powers vested in the guide, without violating the rules of ethics;

e. orientate himself or herself in a location — the ability to determine the location and find the most convenient and accessible route for further movement or to develop such a route by using a global positioning system (GPS), electronic devices (smartphone, mobile phone, etc.), mechanical devices (radio transmitter and location devices, location beacons, compass, altimeter, etc.), as well as other devices operating with or without Internet, and by reading and using topographic and other maps;

f. guiding — the ability to safely and securely lead members of the hiking group to the final destination along marked or unmarked routes, taking into account their mobility and other physical peculiarities, injuries, weather and climate conditions and using individual and collective protective measures;

g. ability to foresee and assess risks — the ability to timely identify situations that pose a threat to life and health, arising from natural, weather, terrain, human, and technical factors, to assess the likelihood of their occurrence and potential consequences, and to implement preventive measures targeted at ensuring safety;

h. orientate himself or herself quickly and provide effective assistance in emergency situations — the ability to orientate himself or herself quickly in situations caused by natural, technical, or human factors, continuously monitor the physical and psychological condition of members of the hiking group, make independent necessary decisions, and to ensure the safety of the life and health of the members of the group and to provide first aid in the absence of external help, and provide first aid;

(2) be aware of the nature of services provided by state bodies authorised to provide emergency response, emergency medical aid, rescue operations and public safety in the Republic of Armenia and the services delivered by insurance companies, the locations of these services in the territory covering the activities of the guide in the area of specialisation, the ways of establishing contact with these state and private bodies, and the time periods usually required to receive such aid;

(3) meet the standards of civilised behaviour and generally accepted norms of ethics in communication, and master the non-discrimination requirements, which shall include at least the following:

a. respect for all tourists, their traditions, customs, religious convictions and beliefs;

b. exclusion of all types of discrimination against tourists;

c. exclusion of any form of disrespect for tourists or making public comments that are intended to impair the dignity of a tourist or insult a group of tourists;

d. exclusion of disputes and conflict situations with tourists;

e. exclusion of unnecessary and unwanted physical contact with tourists and keeping social distance;

f. tolerance toward different cultures and cultural, spiritual, traditional peculiarities and behavioural manifestations of individuals and groups bearing them;

(4) have skills to co-operate with state bodies providing emergency, urgent and first aid services, conduct briefings for participants, including on safety rules, preliminary inspection of the equipment of tourists to ensure the safe passage through tour routes;

(5) ability not to leave, by own activity and example, a negative impact on nature and cultural heritage, as well as to set a requirement to preclude actions by members of the group guided thereby harming the environment and cultural values, as well as monitor it, including:

a. not damaging cultural heritage, the flora and fauna;

b. not causing fire hazardous situations as a result of bonfires or use of other means;

c. refraining from leaving any kind of wastes or garbage in nature during activities;

(6) have the willingness to report on the damage caused to the flora and fauna, as well as individuals polluting the environment to competent state administration and local self-government bodies in order to subject the offender to liability;

(7) have the ability to plan the route in advance.

 

3. ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS FOR QUALIFICATION OF GUIDES

 

6. To qualify as a guide, the candidate must meet the following additional requirements:

(1) before delivering a service, he or she must ensure that members of the expedition are presented with safety rules (including the procedure for using safety equipment, evacuation plans and routes), the skills necessary for participation, health contraindications, and a written notice describing safety risks;

(2) ensure that members of the expedition undergo a safety briefing and confirm by signature that they have familiarised with the notice, have the necessary skills, have no contraindications and have undergone the briefing (a parent or legal representative shall sign for minors).

7. To qualify as a guide with hiking specialisation, the candidate must also meet the following additional requirements:

(1) have the ability to plan the route in advance and send the necessary materials to members of the expedition in advance, understand the special needs of members of the expedition and adjust the route;

(2) have the ability to use marked hiking trails and pass through mountains, forests, hills or other natural environments of interest for tourism;

(3) have a full command of the pace of the tourist group and the skills of providing first aid in case of injuries;

(4) pay attention to the fatigue, sunstroke and dehydration of the group and take preventive measures;

(5) master the skills of properly using hiking poles and packing a backpack;

(6) have excellent skills in using GPS devices, paper maps and compass for orientation in the location;

(7) have the ability to predict weather changes by the movement of clouds, wind direction and atmospheric pressure change;

(8) have knowledge of local plants (especially poisonous and edible) and fauna to ensure the safety and interest of tourists;

(9) have crisis management ability, the skill to calm a panicked tourist, and organise evacuation.

8. To qualify as a guide with trekking specialisation, the candidate must also meet the following additional requirements:

(1) have the ability to assess the possibility of moving along steep and rocky trails, and to take measures to reduce possible risks;

(2) have sufficient knowledge of the need for logistical arrangements, necessary equipment, food, and transportation means for carrying out hiking activities;

(3) master the provisions of the Law "On specially protected nature areas", the means of ensuring the safety of tourist routes in specially protected nature areas, installed signs, types of tourist activities carried out, as well as information on the types of flora and fauna typical of the given tourist area;

(4) have basic knowledge of human body immunity, fatigue and recovery conditioned by the diet;

(5) have knowledge of the natural and climatic conditions of the location and the peculiarities of the landscapes existing in the Republic of Armenia, as well as skills for survival in the wild;

(6) have the capability to provide care to a person injured as a result of an avalanche, to master the measures aimed at preventing sicknesses due to climatic characteristics and acute mountain sickness.

9. To qualify as a guide with rock climbing specialisation, the candidate must also meet the following additional requirements:

(1) have the ability to use and operate the necessary individual and collective protective measures, technical and other devices (ropes, carbines, anti-slip powder) when climbing and descending steep slopes and high-grade inclines, rock climbing and in other cases requiring special safety measures due to the circumstance that there is a threat to the life and health of a person;

(2) have the ability to assess the possibility of moving along steep and rocky paths, take measures for reducing possible risks, and install handrails;

(3) have the ability to perform rescue operations;

(4) have the ability to master knots and ropes (even on non-rock climbing routes this is necessary for being secured during river crossings or difficult sections).

10. To qualify as a guide with the specialisation of ski mountaineering and snowboarding, the candidate must also meet the following additional requirements:

(1) have the ability to use avalanche transceivers, shovels, probes and avalanche search techniques;

(2) have the ability to provide first care to an avalanche victim and to master the measures aimed at preventing sicknesses due to climatic characteristics and acute mountain sickness.

11. To qualify as a guide with ice climbing specialisation, the candidate must also meet the following additional requirements:

(1) have the ability to assess the quality of ice, the stability of ice tongues or ice layers;

(2) have the ability to install ice screws, build ice stations, master the use of ice axes and ice climbing crampons, and the skill to sharpen the latter;

(3) master the skills to perform rescue operations on ice, and to evacuate from vertical ice walls;

(4) have the ability to control hypothermia and prevent frostbite in service users.

12. To qualify as a guide with water specialisation, a candidate must meet the following additional requirements:

(1) have the skill to organise, evaluate and develop a route based on water conditions;

(2) have the skill to manoeuvre a raft, kayak or canoe, based on the water flow velocity;

(3) have knowledge of river classification based on danger level, and the capability to forecast weather change, monitor water levels and flow velocity.

 

Chief of Staff to the Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia

A. HARUTYUNYAN

 

30 March 2026 CERTIFIED BY ELECTRONIC SIGNATURE

 

Annex No 10 to the Decision of the Government of the Republic of Armenia N 383-N of 26 March 2026

 

PROCEDURE FOR QUALIFICATION OF GUIDES

 

1. GENERAL PROVISIONS

 

1. The following main concepts shall be used in this Annex No 10:

(1) commission — a collegial body established upon the order of the Chairperson of the Tourism Committee, which renders the decisions provided for by this Annex 10 in observance of the procedures defined by this Annex 10;

(2) sub-commission — a collegial body established upon the order of the Chairperson of the Tourism Committee, which verifies and assess, by conducting a practical examination, the compliance of a candidate applying for qualifying as a guide though the regular procedure defined by this Annex 10 with the special requirements defined by paragraphs “b”-“h” of sub-point 1 of point 5 of Annex 9 approved by this Decision and, where relevant, with the additional requirements defined by Chapter 3 of Annex 9 approved by this Decision;

(3) practical examination — a simulation of a real-life situation according to a plan developed by the sub-commission in advance, during which the candidate, acting as a guide, demonstrates his or her skills and abilities in accordance with the programme developed in advance and through which the compliance of the candidate with the special requirements defined by paragraphs “b”-“h” of sub-point 1 of point 5 of Annex 9 approved by the Decision and, as relevant, with the additional requirements defined by Chapter 3 of Annex 9 approved by this Decision is verified;

(4) candidate — a natural person provided for by sub-point 1 of point 1 of Annex 9 approved by this Decision;

(5) language skill — a skill defined by paragraph "a" of sub-point 1 of point 5 of Annex 9 approved by this Decision.

2. Other concepts used in this Annex 10 shall have the meaning applied in the Law "On tourism".

 

2. PROCEDURES FOR QUALIFICATION AND GROUPS OF QUALIFYING CANDIDATES

 

3. The qualification of a candidate shall be carried out through the following procedures:

(1) simplified procedure;

(2) accelerated procedure;

(3) regular procedure.

4. A candidate having undergone the training course for a period specified in sub-point 1 of point 3 of Annex 11 approved by this Decision shall be qualified through the simplified procedure.

5. The following shall be qualified through the accelerated procedure:

(1) a candidate who has obtained a license of guide based on Decision of the Government No 945-N of 10 June 2004 “On approving the procedure for licensing activities of a tour guide and a guide and the form of the licence”;

(2) a candidate with professional work record as a guide, where at the time of applying the candidate meets the general and specific requirements for qualification of guide defined by points 5-6 of Annex 9 approved by this Decision and the additional requirements for qualification of guide defined by points 7-8 of Annex 9 approved by this Decision;

(3) candidates who have carried out activities of a guide in a foreign country under the relevant international treaties of the Republic of Armenia, who have obtained the qualification of guide from the competent authority of the given foreign state or a licence, certification issued by the given foreign state, or an equivalent accreditation recognised by the state in another form.

6. A candidate for activities of a guide, who does not meet the requirements specified for either the simplified or the accelerated procedures or where the candidate has expressed a desire to qualify through the regular procedure, shall be qualified through the regular procedure.

 

3. DOCUMENTS REQUIRED FROM CANDIDATES AND THE PROCEDURE FOR SUBMISSION OF DOCUMENTS

 

7. Regardless of the type of procedure, the candidate shall submit electronically, via the platform operating at tourism.gov.am (and in case of impossibility of electronic submission — in hard copy) to the Committee the following documents and information:

(1) a completed application approved by Annex 18 approved by this Decision;

(2) a photocopy of the identification document or, in case of submission in hard copy — the carbon copy thereof;

(3) two identical 3 cm x 4 cm colour photographs in JPEG or PDF format taken within the 6 months preceding the moment of application or, in case of submission in hard copy, a hard copy colour photograph;

(4) in the case of a candidate who is not a citizen of the Republic of Armenia, a document obtained from an educational institution, confirming the knowledge of the Armenian, or a short video maximum five minutes long on any topic in Armenian, or a statement of information by public associations performing functions of representation of tour guides registered and operating in the Republic of Armenia;

(5) a statement of information from a medical institution operating in the Republic of Armenia on the absence of the diseases provided for by sub-point 4 of point 4 of Annex 9 approved by this Decision;

(6) the carbon copy of the receipt of payment of the state duty in the amount prescribed by the Law of the Republic of Armenia “On state duty”.

8. In addition to the documents defined by sub-point 7 of this Annex 10, a candidate qualifying through the simplified procedure on the basis of point 4 of this Annex 10 shall submit to the Committee a certificate of completion of the training course provided for by sub-point 1 of point 3 of Annex 11 approved by this Decision, with the transcript thereof.

9. In addition to the documents defined by point 7 of this Annex 10, a candidate qualifying through the accelerated procedure on the basis of sub-point 1 of point 5 of this Annex 10 shall submit the following to the Committee:

(1) a certificate of completion of the training course provided for by sub-point 2 of point 3 of Annex 11 approved by this Decision, with the transcript thereof;

(2) the carbon copy of the licence of guide based on Decision of the Government No 945-N of 10 June 2004 “On approving the procedure for licensing activities of a tour guide and a guide and the form of the licence”.

10․ In addition to the documents defined by point 7 of this Annex 10, a candidate qualifying through the accelerated procedure on the basis of sub-point 2 of point 5 of this Annex 10 shall submit the following to the Committee:

(1) a certificate of completion of the training course provided for by sub-point 3 of point 3 of Annex 11 approved by this Decision, with the transcript thereof;

(2) a statement of information on being a member — prior to the entry into force of this Decision — of one of the public associations performing functions of representation of guides registered and operating in the Republic of Armenia from the given public association, which must indicate at least the following:

a. the month, year, day of the membership of the candidate in the public association;

b. information on whether or not the membership has been suspended or terminated, whereas in case of suspension at any time range during the entire period of membership — information on the period of suspension;

c. information on whether or not the candidate provided for by the statute of an association has been subjected to disciplinary liability as a member of that public association. Where the candidate has been subjected to disciplinary liability, the ground for and description of the disciplinary violation;

d. the ability of the candidate to maintain compliance with the standards of civilised behaviour and generally accepted norms of ethics;

e. the fact of performance of functions of a guide by the candidate, by indicating the time period and the detailed description of the functions.

11․ In addition to the documents defined by point 7 of this Annex 10, a candidate qualifying through the accelerated procedure on the basis of sub-point 3 of point 5 of this Annex 10 shall submit the following to the Committee:

(1) a certificate of completion of the training course provided for by sub-point 3 of point 3 of Annex 11 approved by this Decision, with the transcript thereof;

(2) the carbon copy of the qualification, licence of guide obtained from the competent authority of a state party to the relevant international treaties of the Republic of Armenia, or of another equivalent accreditation recognised by the given state in another form, and the Armenian translation certified through notarial procedure;

(3) at least 1, but no more than 3 statements of information from an entity of tourism activity registered and operating in the Republic of Armenia or in a foreign state that is a party to the relevant international treaties of the Republic of Armenia, which shall provide at least the following information:

a. the ability of the candidate to maintain compliance with the standards of civilised behaviour and generally accepted norms of ethics;

b. the nature and duration of the legal relationship having previously had with the candidate;

c. information on having previously engaged the candidate as a guide under an employment or service provision contract, indicating the duration of the engagement (in days, months, and years);

d. information on complaints submitted by tourists regarding the candidate or the absence thereof. In case of existence of complaints, the grounds for the complaint and the description of the measures taken by the travel agent or operator shall be provided.

12. Persons applying through the regular procedure may apply after passing the practical qualification examination.

13. In case of existence of shortcomings in the documents of the groups of qualifying candidates provided for by this Chapter, the Committee shall notify the candidate via electronic mail of the shortcoming in the submitted documents within 7 working days after the day of submission of those documents to the Committee and shall recommend completing the documents, information, or correct the shortcoming therein within 15 working days.

14. The recommendation of the Committee defined by point 13 of this Annex 13 shall be deemed rejected by the candidate, where the candidate refuses to complete the documents, information or correct the shortcoming therein via electronic mail or leaves the recommendation without response. In case of submission of additional documents, the calculation of the time limit for submission of documents shall start running from the day of submission of the completed document.

 

4. QUALIFICATION THROUGH THE SIMPLIFIED PROCEDURE

 

15. The qualification of a candidate through the simplified procedure shall be conducted:

(1) by verifying the carbon copies or scanned copies of the certificate issued as a result of the training course provided for by sub-point 1 of point 3 of Annex 11 approved by this Decision, certifying the compliance of the candidate with the requirements for qualification of guide provided for by this Decision, and of the transcript thereof;

(2) by an interview with the candidate by the commission, where the Chairperson of the Committee has assessed the compliance of the candidate with the requirements for qualification of guide as unsatisfactory by the results of assessing the compliance of the course or the skills or knowledge of the given candidate with this Decision as unsatisfactory as a result of the verification provided for by sub-point 1 of this point or the monitoring of the relevant training course by an employee of the Committee.

16. The verification provided for by sub-point 1 of point 15 of this Annex 10 shall be carried out by the Chairperson of the Committee within 7 working days from the day of receipt of the final package of the documents provided for by Chapter 3 of this Annex 10 from the candidate.

17. Based on the results of the verification provided for by sub-point 1 of point 15 of this Annex 10, the Chairperson of the Committee shall render one of the following decisions:

(1) to confirm the compliance of the candidate with the requirements for qualification of guide and grant the qualification of guide;

(2) to consider the compliance of the candidate with the requirements for qualification of guide as unsatisfactory and invite the candidate for an interview;

(3) to confirm the non-compliance of the candidate with the requirements for qualification of guide and reject to grant the qualification.

18. Based on the decision defined by sub-point 2 of point 17 of this Annex 10, the interview with the candidate shall be organised.

 

5. QUALIFICATION THROUGH THE ACCELERATED PROCEDURE

 

19. The qualification of a candidate who has applied for qualification of guide through the accelerated procedure shall be conducted:

(1) by verifying the carbon copies or scanned copies of the certificate issued as a result of the training course provided for by sub-points 2 and 3, as relevant, of point 3 of Annex 11, approved by this Decision, certifying the compliance of the candidate with the requirements for qualification of guide provided for by this Decision, and of the transcript thereof;

(2) by an interview with the candidate by the commission, where the Chairperson of the Committee has assessed the compliance of the candidate with the requirements for qualification of guide as unsatisfactory by the results of assessing the compliance of the course or the skills or knowledge of the given candidate with this Decision as unsatisfactory as a result of the verification provided for by sub-point 1 of this point or the monitoring of the relevant training course by an employee of the Committee.

20. The Committee shall carry out the verification provided for by sub-point 1 of point 19 of this Annex 10 within 7 working days from the day of receipt of the final package of the documents provided for by Chapter 3 of this Annex 10 from the candidate.

21. Based on the results of the verification provided for by sub-point 1 of point 19 of this Annex 10, the Committee shall render one of the following decisions:

(1) to confirm the compliance of the candidate with the requirements for qualification of guide and grant the qualification of guide;

(2) to confirm the compliance of the candidate with the general requirements for qualification of guide approved by this Decision and invite the candidate for an interview to assess the compliance with the special or additional requirements defined by Annex 9 to this Decision;

(3) to confirm the compliance of the candidate with the general requirements for qualification of guide approved by this Decision and invite the candidate for a practical examination and interview to assess the compliance with the special or additional requirements defined by Annex 9 to this Decision;

(4) to confirm the non-compliance of the candidate with the requirements for qualification of guide and reject to grant the qualification.

22. Based on the decision defined by sub-points 2-3 of point 21 of this Annex 10, the Chairperson of the Committee shall organise the interview with the candidate, by including the issue on the agenda of the upcoming sitting of the commission not having been completed yet. When forming the agenda of the sitting of the commission, the issues of candidates having applied earlier shall be included on the agenda of the sitting of the commission in chronological order.

 

6. QUALIFICATION THROUGH THE REGULAR PROCEDURE

 

23. The qualification of a candidate through the regular procedure shall be conducted in two stages:

(1) practical examination;

(2) interview (oral stage).

24. To organise the practical examination, a sub-commission shall be established in advance upon the order of the Chairperson of the Committee, which shall be comprised of 10 members:

(1) 3 employees of the Committee;

(2) 2 mountain rescuers and 1 first aid and safety instructor from the Rescue Service of the Republic of Armenia;

(3) 1 specialist in the sector of tourism;

(4) 1 scientist-psychologist with a scientific degree in psychology;

(5) 2 members from public associations performing functions of representation of guides registered and operating in the Republic of Armenia.

25. The first composition of the sub-commission shall be approved upon the order of the Chairperson of the Committee within 3 months following the adoption of this Decision. The order shall indicate the term of appointment of each member of the sub-commission.

26. The term of appointment of a member of the sub-commission may not exceed 2 years, except for the Chairperson of the Committee, the person ex officio substituting him or her, or employees of the Committee whereto no restriction on the term of appointment applies.

27. The composition of the sub-commission, the term of appointment of members thereof and other amendments shall be approved upon the order of the Chairperson of the Committee. The duty of the Chairperson of the Committee shall be to ensure that the sub-commission is always staffed with the number of members provided for by point 24 of this Annex 10.

28. Members of the sub-commission may not be members of the commission, except for the Chairperson of the Committee and employees of the Committee.

29. The Chairperson of the Committee or the person ex officio substituting him or her shall be a permanent member of the sub-commission and shall head the sub-commission.

30. The sub-commission shall assess the compliance with the special requirements defined by paragraphs “b”-“h” of sub-point 1 of point 5 of Annex 9 approved by this Decision and, where applicable, with the additional requirements defined by Chapter 3 of Annex 9 approved by this Decision by conducting a practical training.

31. To participate in the practical examination, candidates must enrol in advance. Candidates may enrol by sending a letter on the desire to participate in the practical examination to the official electronic mail address of the Committee or by informing the Committee of their desire to participate in the practical examination via the telephone number indicated on the official website of the Committee. The candidate shall receive information from the Committee on the day and time of the practical examination via a letter sent to his or her electronic mail address and via a phone call within at least 3 working days after enrolment.

32. The entire process of the practical examination may be video-recorded upon the consent of the candidate. The sub-commission shall draw up minutes on the process and results of the practical examination, which shall be signed by all members of the sub-commission.

33. The minutes of the sub-commission shall be drawn up by the Secretary appointed by the Chairperson of the Committee, who shall not be a member of the sub-commission.

34. The minutes shall include the observations of the members of the sub-commission and of the candidate.

35. The sub-commission shall render one of the following decisions:

(1) the candidate meets the special and additional requirements for guide;

(2) the candidate does not meet the special and additional requirements for guide.

36. The decision of the sub-commission shall be binding upon the commission.

37. The Committee shall send an extract from the minutes of the sub-commission on the candidate to the candidate via electronic mail within 5 working days after the decision is rendered by the sub-commission.

38. The Chairperson of the Committee shall send the issue regarding the decision of the sub-commission to the agenda of the upcoming sitting of the Committee not having been completed yet and shall inform the candidate about the day of the interview via electronic mail.

 

7. VERIFICATION AND ASSESSMENT OF THE COMPLIANCE OF THE CANDIDATE WITH THE QUALIFICATION REQUIREMENTS

 

39. Compliance with the general requirements for qualification of guide provided for by this Decision shall be verified and assessed based on the documents submitted by the candidate and the information contained therein, by verifying their validity, completeness and authenticity, and in the cases provided for by this Decision — also based on an interview.

40. The Chairperson of the Committee may apply to state administration and local self-governing bodies, as well as legal persons, institutions and private individuals pointed out or mentioned in the documents submitted by the candidate, for verifying the authenticity of the data submitted by the candidate.

41. The requirement defined by sub-point 2 of point 4 of Annex 9 approved by this Decision shall be deemed to be met for a candidate who is not a citizen of the Republic of Armenia, where the candidate has submitted a document defined by sub-point 4 of point 7 of this Annex 10.

42. The requirement defined by sub-point 4 of point 4 of Annex 9 approved by this Decision shall be deemed to be met, where it is confirmed upon a statement of information from a medical institution of the Republic of Armenia that the candidate does not suffer from the disease under sub-point 4 of point 4 of Annex 9 approved by this Decision.

43. The requirement defined by sub-point 5 of point 4 of Annex 9 approved by this Decision shall be deemed to be met, where a life and health insurance policy or insurance contract against accidents and incidents from an insurance company registered and operating in the Republic of Armenia has been submitted.

44. When testing the language skill, the candidate may not use a dictionary.

45. The compliance of the candidate with the special requirements for guide defined by point 5 of Annex 9 approved by this Decision and the additional requirements provided for by Chapter 3 of the same Annex shall be verified and assessed by means of one or several of the following ways simultaneously:

(1) based on the analysis of written documents submitted by the candidate, including the certificate of completion of the training course and the transcript thereof;

(2) by conducting the interview with the candidate in the question and answer format;

(3) through a practical examination.

 

8. COMPOSITION AND PROCEDURE FOR OPERATION OF THE COMMISSION

 

46. The Commission shall be a body operating on a non-permanent basis.

47. The first composition of the commission shall be approved upon the order of the Chairperson of the Committee within 3 months following the adoption of this Decision. The order shall indicate the term of appointment of each member of the commission.

48. The term of appointment of a member of the commission may not exceed 2 years, except for the Chairperson of the Committee, the person ex officio substituting him or her or employees of the Committee whereto no restriction on the term of appointment applies.

49. The composition of the commission, the term of appointment of members thereof and other amendments shall be approved upon the order of the Chairperson of the Committee. The duty of the Chairperson of the Committee shall be to ensure that the commission is always staffed with the number of members provided for by this Annex 10.

50. The Chairperson of the Committee or the person ex officio substituting him or her shall be a permanent member of the commission and shall head the commission.

51. The commission shall be comprised of 9 members:

(1) 3 employees of the Committee;

(2) 2 members from public associations performing functions of representation of guides registered and operating in the Republic of Armenia;

(3) 1 scientist with at least 5 years of teaching experience in tourism;

(4) 1 specialist in the field of human resources management,

(5) 1 scientist-psychologist with a scientific degree in psychology;

(6) 1 specialist in the sector who possesses information on representatives of the flora and fauna, as well as specially protected nature areas (state reserves, national parks, state sanctuaries, and monuments of nature).

52. The Commission shall be headed by the Chairperson of the Committee or a person ex officio substituting him or her.

53. The Commission shall:

(1) hold an interview,

(2) in the cases defined by this Decision, verify written documents submitted by the candidate and assess the compliance of the candidate with the requirements qualification of guide based on these documents;

(3) invite an interpreter for testing the knowledge of foreign language;

(4) take the decision of the sub-commission as a basis when analysing the results of the practical examination.

54. The Chairperson of the Commission or the person ex officio substituting him or her shall:

(1) establish the quorum of the sitting at the beginning of the sitting and the issue that absent members of the commission, as well as persons invited to the sitting of the commission have been duly notified;

(2) inform persons invited to the sitting of the commission that the sitting is closed (in case the sitting is held behind closed doors) and that the issues and other information discussed at the sitting are not subject to publication;

(3) announce the adjournment or recess of the sitting of the commission;

(4) publish the agenda of the sitting during the sitting;

(5) give the floor for a speech, as well as for asking question or answering a question, remove the issues or terminate the speeches that do not related to or are irrelevant to the essence of the issues discussed at the sitting of the commission;

(6) announce the holding of voting;

(7) render a decision on the time and place of publishing a decision with regard to each issue;

(8) announce the end of the sitting of the commission;

(9) perform other functions to ensure the normal activities of the commission.

55. The commission shall organise its activities by convening sitting.

56. The commission shall conduct sitting at least twice a month in case of existence of at least 1 application.

57. The Commission shall have quorum, if attended by more than half of the members of the commission.

58. The secretary of sitting, appointed by the Chairperson of the Committee, shall participate in the sitting of the commission, whose function shall be as follows:

(1) to notify, via electronic mail and telephone call, persons being invited to interview of the time and place of holding the sitting of the commission;

(2) to draw up the minutes of the commission.

59. 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.

60. Observations made by the members of the commission regarding the candidates shall be included in the minutes of the commission only upon their knowledge and consent.

61. The commission shall render a decision by secret ballot, on the basis of the principle of “one person, one vote”, by voting for or against. The number of votes for and against shall be included in the protocol.

62. The candidate shall be granted with the qualification of guide, if three quarters of the members of the commission participating in the sitting have voted for the decision to grant qualification thereto.

63. Discussions between members of the Commission shall be briefly included in the minutes of the commission, which shall be signed by all members of the commission attending the sitting and having participated in voting.

64. The candidate shall have the right to obtain an extract from the minutes from the Committee, which must contain the part included in the minutes relating thereto.

65. The guidelines for convening, conducting a sitting of the commission, organising voting, assessing the interview of the candidate, the procedure for refusing to participate in voting due to conflict of interests, as well as other details on notifying the candidate of the results shall be defined upon the order of the Chairperson of the Committee.

 

9. INTERVIEW

 

66. In the cases defined by this Annex 10, the Committee shall notify the candidate of the interview with the candidate by electronic mail and telephone number at least 7 working days before the day of holding the interview.

67. During the interview, each member of the commission attending the sitting of the commission shall assess the candidate participating in the interview.

68. In case the candidate participating in the interview is late for his or her individual interview time, he or she shall be considered as not having appeared for the interview, except in the case when the interview of the previous candidate in the sequence has not completed by the time of he or she appears.

69. The maximum duration of the interview with the candidate shall be one hour.

70. The interview shall be run in two parts:

(1) introduction of the person (first part of the interview), maximum 5 minutes long;

(2) verification of compliance with the special requirements for qualification of guide (second part of the interview).

71. Members of the Commission shall assess the candidate based on their moral certainty, based on the ability of the candidate to answer the questions correctly and the manner of presenting the answers.

72. During the interview, the knowledge and skills of the candidate shall be tested within the scope of the topics defined by Annex 11 approved by this Decision.

 

10. TIME LIMITS FOR ADOPTION OF DECISIONS BY THE RESULTS OF QUALIFICATION PROCEDURES AND NOTIFICATION OF CANDIDATES OF DECISIONS

 

73. In the cases defined by this Annex 10, the Committee shall notify the candidate via electronic mail of decisions adopted by the Chairperson of the Committee within 3 working days following the adoption of the decision, attaching a scanned copy of the decision.

74. In the cases defined by this Annex 10, a decision rendered by the sub-commission and the commission on any issue shall be rendered immediately after the discussion of the given issue included on the agenda of the commission.

75. In the cases provided for by this Annex 10, by the results of the decision adopted by the sub-commission and the commission, the order of the Chairperson of the Committee shall be sent to the candidate via electronic mail within 5 working days following the rendering of the decision by the commission.

76. The candidate shall be invited to notify, along with the notification of decisions on granting the qualification of guide, of activities of guide as prescribed by the legislation of the Republic of Armenia, except for the case provided for by part 3 of Article 18 of the Law “On tourism”, and shall be warned of the legal consequences prescribed for carrying out activities of a guide without notification.

 

11. ISSUANCE OF A CERTIFICATE OF QUALIFICATION AND A BADGE

 

77. Within 10 working days following the notification of activities of a guide as prescribed by the legislation of the Republic of Armenia, the guide shall receive the certificate of qualification and the badge of the guide from the Committee.

78. In case of losing the certificate of qualification or the badge, the guide may apply in writing to the Committee to receive a duplicate. A new certificate or badge shall be issued within 15 working days following the day of application.

 

Chief of Staff to the Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia

A. HARUTYUNYAN

 

30 March 2026 CERTIFIED BY ELECTRONIC SIGNATURE

 

Annex No 11 to the Decision of the Government of the Republic of Armenia N 383-N of 26 March 2026

 

PROGRAMME, PROCEDURE FOR, FREQUENCY OF AND TIMELINES FOR THE TRAINING OF GUIDES

 

1. GENERAL PROVISIONS

 

1. The training of qualified guides and candidates shall be conducted on the following topics:

(1) specially protected nature areas of the flora and fauna of Armenia (state reserves, national parks, state sanctuaries, and monuments of nature);

(2) geography of Armenia;

(3) tourism resources and cultural heritage of Armenia;

(4) first aid;

(5) physical training (practical) according to the relevance of the types of professional areas defined by Annex 15 of this Decision;

(6) sanitary and epidemiological safety rules and public health regulations for ensuring the safety of public (human) health;

(7) ethics;

(8) skills of a guide according to the relevance of the types of professional areas defined by Annex 15 to this Decision;

(9) Law "On tourism", secondary regulatory legal acts adopted on its basis thereof and related legal acts;

(10) psychology;

(11) foreign languages (preference shall be given to the official languages of the country of origin of tourist groups visiting the Republic of Armenia);

(12) inter-cultural communication and inclusion;

(13) skills for transferring professional knowledge.

2. Every three calendar years, the Chairperson of the Committee shall approve and review the content of the training programmes for candidates and the mandatory training programme for qualified guides, in discussion with guide associations and training organisations.

3. The time periods of trainings for candidates obtaining the qualification of guide shall be as follows:

(1) for candidates applying under point 4 of Annex 10 approved by this Decision — 3 or 6 months, 20 or 12 academic hours per week, respectively;

(2) for candidates applying through the accelerated procedure under sub-point 1 of point 5 of Annex 10 approved by this Decision — 1 week, 20 academic hours and 5 practical classes;

(3) for candidates applying through the accelerated procedure under sub-points 2-3 of point 5 of Annex 10 approved by this Decision — 2-3 weeks, a total of 40 academic hours and 10 practical classes.

4. Qualified guides shall be obliged to undergo mandatory training for at least 25 academic hours, once 3 years.

5. The training programme for qualified guides shall include the topics defined by point 1 of this Annex 11. The training programme for qualified guides may include additional topics not provided for by point 1 of Annex 3.

6. Qualified guides may be considered to have completed their mandatory training hours, if, during the given year, they have completed or delivered another course — conducted in the Republic of Armenia or in a foreign country, in person or remotely —that mostly or mainly covers the topics defined by point 1 of this Annex 11, except for the case defined by point 7 of this Annex 11.

7. Training shall be mandatory for qualified guides on the topics defined by sub-points 5, 7 and 8 of point 1 of this Annex 11.

8. The training designed for candidates and the mandatory training of qualified guides shall be conducted by the person having the competence of training based on part 4 of Article 18 of the Law “On tourism”.

9. In the absence of the person provided for by part 4 of Article 18 of the Law “On tourism”, the training may be conducted by the Committee or by a person or persons selected based on the established programme standards, list of literature approved by the Committee and the defined criteria.

10. Participation in the training course shall be concluded with practical and theoretical examinations.

11. In case of positive results in the examinations provided for by point 10 of this Annex No 11, a certificate of completion shall be issued, the transcript whereof shall include the results of examinations.

12. During the training course, the Committee may conduct monitoring at any time.

 

Chief of Staff to the Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia

A. HARUTYUNYAN

 

30 March 2026 CERTIFIED BY ELECTRONIC SIGNATURE

 

Annex No 12 to the Decision of the Government of the Republic of Armenia N 383-N of 26 March 2026

 

VALIDITY PERIOD OF THE CERTIFICATE OF QUALIFICATION OF GUIDES

 

1. GENERAL PROVISIONS

 

1. The certificate of qualification shall be issued following the qualification through the procedure provided for by Annex 10 approved by this Decision and notification of activities of guide as prescribed by the legislation of the Republic of Armenia, within the time limit defined by Annex 10 approved by this Decision.

2. Certificates of qualification shall be issued as per sequential numbers.

3. Certificates of qualification shall be issued for a term of 3 years from the day of their signature.

4․ The certificate of qualification shall be extended for the term defined by point 3 of this Annex by the result of the training provided for by point 4 of Annex 11 and the examinations provided for by point 10 of the same Annex defined by this Decision.

 

Chief of Staff to the Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia

A. HARUTYUNYAN

 

30 March 2026 CERTIFIED BY ELECTRONIC SIGNATURE

 

Annex No 13 to the Decision of the Government of the Republic of Armenia N 383-N of 26 March 2026

 

FORM OF THE CERTIFICATE OF QUALIFICATION OF GUIDES

 

 

Chief of Staff to the Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia

A. HARUTYUNYAN

 

30 March 2026 CERTIFIED BY ELECTRONIC SIGNATURE

 

Annex No 14 to the Decision of the Government of the Republic of Armenia N 383-N of 26 March 2026

 

FORM OF THE BADGE OF GUIDES

 

Chief of Staff to the Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia

A. HARUTYUNYAN

 

30 March 2026 CERTIFIED BY ELECTRONIC SIGNATURE

 

Annex No 15 to the Decision of the Government of the Republic of Armenia N 383-N of 26 March 2026

 

AREAS OF SPECIALISATIONS OF GUIDES

 

1. GENERAL PROVISIONS

 

1․ According to the areas of specialisations, guides shall be classified as follows:

(1) land (hiking, trekking, rock climbing, caving, mountaineering, skiing, ice climbing, motorised vehicles, horse riding, cycling, mountain biking, etc.);

(2) water (rafting, kayaking, canoeing, diving, stand-up paddleboarding, etc.).

2. A land guide shall provide services mainly in natural environments, ensuring the technical implementation of the route, the safety of participants, information support and the quality of the overall experience.

3. Guides with land specialisation shall, as a result of the training course on the topics defined by sub-points 5 and 8 of point 1 of Annex 11 to this Decision, be qualified for one or several of the types defined by sub-point 1 of point 1 of this Annex 15 simultaneously.

4. A water guide shall operate in water environments of varying complexity — rivers (including rapid mountain streams), lakes, water reservoirs or special purpose waterways. The activity shall be carried out along pre-defined routes.

5․ A water guide may carry out the following:

(1) preliminary study and assessment of water routes — water flow velocity, water levels, obstacles, starting and ending points, emergency crossings;

(2) provision of minimum information on the water environment, its biodiversity and principles of conservation.

 

Chief of Staff to the Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia

A. HARUTYUNYAN

 

30 March 2026 CERTIFIED BY ELECTRONIC SIGNATURE

 

Annex No 16 to the Decision of the Government of the Republic of Armenia N 383-N of 26 March 2026

 

GROUNDS FOR TERMINATION OF QUALIFICATION OF GUIDES

 

1. The qualification of a guide shall be terminated, if:

(1) the grounds prescribed by parts 4-5 of Article 9 of the Law "On tourism" have arisen, or the qualifying person has been deprived of the certificate of qualification;

(2) he or she been removed from record-registration as an individual entrepreneur;

(3) the validity period of the certificate of qualification has expired and the qualified person has not undergone the training provided for by point 4 of Annex 11 defined by this Decision, and the person has not obtained a new certificate of qualification as a result of the examination provided for by point 10 of the same Annex;

(4) he or she has been declared having no active legal capacity;

(5) he or she has died;

(6) he or she has failed to undergo the compulsory annual medical examination or, by the results of the examination, has been found to be suffering from a disease provided for by sub-point 4 of point 4 of Annex 9 approved by this Decision;

(7) his or her life and health insurance has expired and he or she does not have a new life and health insurance contract.

 

Chief of Staff to the Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia

A. HARUTYUNYAN

 

30 March 2026 CERTIFIED BY ELECTRONIC SIGNATURE

 

Annex No 17 to the Decision of the Government of the Republic of Armenia N 383-N of 26 March 2026

 

APPLICATION FORM FOR QUALIFICATION OF TOUR GUIDE

 

APPLICATION

 

 

1. Personal data

1.1. Name, surname, father’s name

1.2. Gender: male female

1.3 Date of birth (day/month/year)

1.4 Place of birth

1.5 Nationality

1.6 Type of identity document

1.7. Identity document details

1.8 Place of residence (permanent and current)

1.9 Telephone number

1.10 Electronic mail address

2. Education, qualification, employment

2.1 Name of educational institution and profession Registered address Study period (from -- to -- ) Profession

2.2 What languages do you have command of? ● Armenian ● English ● Russian ● other (specify the language)

2.3 Indicate the following information regarding your employment over the past 10 years: Dates of hiring and dismissal Name of organisation Registered address Telephone number Position Grounds for dismissal

2.4. Have you been declared having no active legal capacity or having limited active legal capacity as prescribed by law? ● No, ● Yes; provide details

3. Which tour guide specialisation are you applying for? ● National ● Local ●

4. In which area do you plan to carry out activities of tour guide? ● Yerevan Community ● The entire territory of the Republic of Armenia ● The territory of the Republic of Armenia, except for Yerevan Community ● Specific marz, urban settlement or village or community (specify)

5. In your opinion, is there other important information that you would like to indicate? ● No; ● Yes; provide details

6. Other documents ● No, ● Yes; attach the documents

7. I hereby certify that the information contained in this document is reliable and complete.

8. I hereby give consent to making enquiries for verifying the authenticity of the documents and information submitted by me

 

_________________ Signature	Date (day/ ______________________
	month/year) _____________________
	Signature _______________

 

Chief of Staff to the Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia

A. HARUTYUNYAN

 

30 March 2026 CERTIFIED BY ELECTRONIC SIGNATURE

 

Annex No 18 to the Decision of the Government of the Republic of Armenia N 383-N of 26 March 2026

 

APPLICATION FORM FOR QUALIFICATION OF GUIDE

 

APPLICATION

 

 

1. Personal details

1.1. Name, surname, father’s name

1.2 Gender: male female

1.3 Date of birth (day/month/year)

1.4. Place of birth

1.5 Nationality

1.6 Type of identity document

1.7. Identity document details

1.8 Place of residence (permanent and current)

1.9 Telephone number

1.10 Electronic mail address

2. Education, qualification, employment

2.1. Name of educational institution and profession Registered address Study period (from -- to -- ) Profession

2.2 What languages do you have command of? ● Armenian ● English ● Russian ● other (specify the language)

2.3. Indicate the following information regarding your employment over the past 10 years: Dates of hiring and dismissal Name of organisation Registered address Telephone number Position Grounds for dismissal

2.4 Have you been declared having no active legal capacity or having limited active legal capacity as prescribed by law? ● No; ● Yes; provide details

3. Which guide specialisation are you applying for? ● Land (hiking, trekking, rock climbing, caving, mountaineering, skiing, ice climbing, motorised vehicles, horse racing, cycling, mountain biking, etc.); ● Water (rafting, kayaking, canoeing, diving, stand-up paddleboarding, etc.).

4. Do you have certificate or diploma necessary for the qualification of guide? ● No ● Yes (indicate the date of obtaining the qualification, the full name of the body or institution having granted the qualification, and the type of qualification)

5. In your opinion, is there any other important information that you would like to indicate? ● No, ● Yes; provide details

6. Other documents ● No, ● Yes; attach the documents

7. I hereby certify that the information contained in this document is reliable and complete.

8. I hereby give consent to making enquiries for verifying the authenticity of the documents and information submitted by me

_________________ Signature	Date (day/ ______________________
	month/year) _____________________
	Signature _______________

 

Chief of Staff to the Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia

A. HARUTYUNYAN

 

30 March 2026 CERTIFIED BY ELECTRONIC SIGNATURE

 

Date of official promulgation: 30 March 2026.

 

Translation published on a joint site 26 June 2026.