Armenia may be almost 7,000kms away from Hong Kong, but this small republic in the mountainous Caucasus region of West Asia has an important connection to the history of the city. Many Hongkongers may not be aware but Chater Road and Chater House office block in Central, and Catchick Street in Kennedy Town, are all named after Paul Catchick Chater, an Armenian.
Chater came to Hong Kong from Calcutta, India, where his father worked for the Indian Civil Service. He arrived in 1864, and, over the next few decades was instrumental in building Hong Kong – literally: his role in the Praya Reclamation project added significant land to Hong Kong Island’s Central waterfront, giving space for landmarks such as Prince’s Building, Statue Square, and what is now the Court of Final Appeals. He was co-founder of Hongkong Land, which remains the biggest single largest landlord in Central, and Hongkong Electric Company, still one of the two main electricity generation companies in Hong Kong.
While this impressive Armenian helped develop the city of Hong Kong in its early days, today Armenia hopes to strengthen the link between Hong Kong – and China more widely – through support in the other direction: Armenia’s Tourism Committee is focusing on attracting Chinese tourists to the country.
In September 2024, the first direct flight route between China and Armenia was launched. Flights now run from Urumqi in the northerly province of Xinjiang to Zvartnots Airport in Yerevan, the capital of Armenia. The two countries have had a policy of mutual visa-free entry since 2019. While the number of Chinese tourists visiting Armenia is still small, boosting these numbers is a priority, according to Lusine Gevorgyan, Chairman of the Tourism Committee.
Overall, Armenia has shown a steady increase in tourism numbers over the past decade. In 2024, just over 2.2 million visited the country, up from 1.2 million in 2014. Armenia only has a population of 3 million.
The appeals of Armenia to these tourists are myriad. The country has ancient origins, with Yerevan being one of the oldest continually inhabited cities in the world. Fascinating historical sites are dotted across the country, including in the Vayots Dzor region where remains of the oldest complete winemaking process were excavated in 2007 in the cave Areni 1. Archaeologists dated the site to 6,000 years ago.
The country has three Unesco World Heritage sites. The monastic complexes of Haghpat and Sanahin date to the 10th to 13th centuries, while the complex of medieval churches and tombs at the monastery of Geghard are partly cut into rock and surrounded by towering cliffs at the entrance to the Azat Valley. The archaeological site of Zvartnots and churches at Etchmiadzin – including the Etchmiadzin Cathedral, which was built by Saint Gregory the Illuminator in 301–303 and is the oldest church built by a state in the world – is considered the centre of Armenian religious belief and of national identity.
Armenia was the first country to adopt Christianity as its official religion, in 301CE. Mount Ararat, where the Biblical Noah’s Ark came to rest after the Great Flood, overlooks much of the western part of the country, and appears on the republic’s coat of arms.
The 5,137-metre-tall stratovolcano was part of the Armenian kingdoms for 3,000 years but the mountain now lies in Turkey, an outcome of Armenia’s turbulent recent history that inlcudes rule by the Ottoman, Persian, and Russian Empires, the 1915 Armenian genocide, and territorial conflicts with neighbouring Azerbaijan that continue today.
But today Armenia is looking firmly forward. In Yerevan and beyond, young entrepreneurs are opening hip restaurants, bars and coffee shops that sit alongside more traditional venues offering dishes such as dolma, or tolma as it is sometimes called, the much-loved traditional dish of usually meat and spices wrapped in grape leaves, or khorovats (Armenian barbecue).
Wineries, such as Tushpa and Hin Areni, both located on the mineral-rich soils of the Ararat Valley in western Armenia, are making high quality wines, often from indigenous grapes, while independent producers such as Dilvados near Dilijan are making small-batch varieties of the region’s traditional fruit brandies from local, sometimes wild-growing fruit.
By marketing the country’s historical sites, and its modern services including its blossoming hospitality sector, Armenia aims to boost tourism numbers by 20% in 2025, particularly in destinations with existing direct flights, according to Gevorgyan.
