The head of Armenia's Tourism Committee, Lusine Gevorgyan, recently met with hotel owners and instructed them to prepare prayer rooms for Muslims in their hotels.

Axar.az informs that the publication “Hraparak” reported this.

The publication states that Gevorgyan mentioned that hotels without prayer rooms would have their licenses revoked:

"Some hotel owners have stated that such a thing is not included in the established tourism standards. The committee head, however, emphasized that Armenia has entered the Arab market and this is mandatory. This issue, however, has caused some concern among Armenians. Some people have interpreted this directive as preparation for the potential influx of 300,000 Azerbaijanis into Armenia."

A spokesperson for the Ministry of Economy, on the other hand, stated that, contrary to Gevorgyan’s statement, this was not mandatory. He explained that the aim was to prepare halal food and prayer rooms for tourists coming from the Arab Gulf.