YEREVAN, November 6. /ARKA/. The guesthouse Akhavnatun has become one of the most popular tourist camps in Akhavnavank, a village in Armenia’s province of Tavush. The guesthouse is flanked on the one side by the Dilijan National Park and by the Red Book yew trees on the other side.
Aleksan Nersisyan, the founder of the guesthouse, is a native of the village. Before building the guesthouse, he used to escort tourist groups in his native village to the local historical and cultural sites and organizing meals in the homes of his fellow villagers.
Then he decided to start his own business and built Akhavnatun, which has 5 rooms built in the concept of a wine guest house: Kinea wines are produced here. Kinea is an Armenian female name.
Aleksan’s idea to create a guesthouse was endorsed by the partners: the guesthouse is one of the beneficiaries of the “Rural Tourism Development” program implemented jointly by the Acba Federation and the German Nature and Biodiversity Conservation Union (NABU).
According to Acba Bank, Aleksan renovated and furnished the guesthouse with the help of a grant from the program.
“The rooms of the guesthouse are characterized by warmth, as a lot of love and soul has been invested here. Every detail and the pictures on the walls are handmade: nature is painted everywhere. In the beginning there was a small restaurant here where we only served food. Then the idea came up to create something to center around. And that’s Akhavnatun. Our cooperation with Acba Federation and NABU started a long time ago. When we started to build Akhavnatun, we saw an announcement that Acba Federation and NABU were offering a rural tourism program. With their help we invested in Akhavnatun,’ says Aleksan Nersisyan.
Aleksan’s wish now is to develop the business environment in Akhavnavank so that his native village becomes one of the important tourist destinations in Armenia.
Acba Federation is the biggest shareholder of Acba Bank with more than 81 percent stake in the bank’s capital. Acba Federation contributes to the development of agriculture, small and medium-sized businesses in rural communities, revitalization of the business environment and the well-being of every person running businesses in the mentioned areas. -0-
