1A's ‘HIKEArmenia’ Campaign Connects Travelers with Armenia’s Landscape through Mobile App

In spring 2015, ONEArmenia (1A), a nonprofit organization focused on stimulating positive social and economic change in Armenia, created a guide that helped thousands of people—both tourists and locals—get “Inside Yerevan.” Now, as its upcoming/current campaign reveals, the organization demonstrates that it’s ready to get outside. 1A’s latest crowdfunding campaign is called “HIKEArmenia,” and its main goal is to drive travelers’ activity outside Yerevan to the landscape and local communities beyond Armenia’s industrial capital.

1A created a guide that helped thousands of people—both tourists and locals—get 'Inside Yerevan' — 1A created a guide that helped thousands of people—both tourists and locals—get ‘Inside Yerevan’

HIKEArmenia is an initiative that has been on the organization’s backburner for the last several years, according to Patrick Sarkissian, 1A’s founder and digital marketing specialist. He says 1A will be collaborating with experts across multiple industries to develop the hiking industry from the insideout.

The idea stems from the sad truth that thousands of hiking trails exist in Armenia, yet only a handful of them are marked; even then, the country lacks a standard procedure for doing so, making some of Armenia’s most beautiful regions inaccessible to most people visiting the country for the first time. Few networks exist to connect Armenia’s countryside to the outside world. Even worse, the people living in villages throughout these regions have, for decades, suffered the social and economic consequences of the poor exposure.

But these areas have so much to offer the rest of the world. Outside of breathtaking landscapes and natural beauty, scattered throughout Armenia’s countryside lie hundreds of relics from an ancient history that goes back thousands of years. All this remains largely undiscovered by international travelers, who have trouble finding this small, postSoviet republic on a map, let alone finding the hidden treasures within its borders.

That’s why the first step in the HIKEArmenia campaign will see 1A teaming up with local hiking experts to crowdfund for the marking of several trails in Armenia according to international standards, voted on by the community of hikers living in Armenia today.

The second phase of the project will create a platform via a mobile application that will incorporate the following features: (1) interactive maps of key hikes throughout Armenia, featuring important background information, historical significance, and logistical information about the hike (altitude, length, difficulty); and (2) the ability for users to track and upload their own hikes, leave feedback on hikes (pictorial as well as written), and access recommendations of local hiking guides, restaurants, local places to stay, villages to stop in, and community organizations doing great things in Armenia’s more remote regions.