Prime Minister Karen Karapetian was presented the development plan for the Tatev Gate Project on March 11, 2017 (Photo: Press Office of the Government of Armenia)

YEREVAN (Arka)—Armenian Prime Minister Karen Karapetian during a working visit to the Syunik province on March 11 had a consultative meeting with representatives of the Foundation for Armenia Development, and was presented the Tatev Gate investment project, the government’s press office said.

The Tatev Gate complex will be built next to the Halidzor station of Tatev cableway, which will feature information, entertainment and service infrastructures and quality services designed to increase the flow of visitors.

The already finalized general development plan calls for establishing a visitor hub, a national kitchen and catering outlets, as well as a center of national traditions, ancient Armenian games and other entertainments. The project requires investment of 95 million USD in six strategic directions, with a prospect of about 1,500 jobs and increased influx of tourists–up to 400,000 annually.

International financial organizations may be engaged in the project. Welcoming the idea, Karapetian urged those responsible to finalize the project and begin substantive discussions in the government.

The 5.7-kilometer-long Winds of Tatev ropeway in the south of Armenia –built by Austrian-Swiss Dopplemayer/Garaventa transports visitors from the village of Halidzor across the Vorotan gorge to the village of Tatev–allows tourists and visitors to bypass a 90-minute drive on a road in and out of the Vorotan River Gorge to a walking distance of the Tatev monastery.

The cable car travels at a speed of 37 kilometers per hour (23 miles per hour) and a one-way journey takes 11 minutes. At its highest point over the gorge, the car travels 320 meters (1,056 feet) above ground level. It has two cabins, each capable of carrying up to 25 passengers.  The cable car is part of a $45 million-dollar public-private effort to develop tourism at Tatev and in the overall region of Syunik. The aerial tramway was officially registered by a representative of the Guinness World Records as the world’s longest aerial tramway built to transport visitors.