We are a non-profit organization that began in 2012 with a simple idea: unite individuals around the world who recognize the country’s potential, and build a thriving Armenia by funding sustainable projects with radical transparency at the heart of it all. Over the last decade, our global community has supported 35 socio-economic and humanitarian projects in rural communities across Armenia and Artsakh. While our vision of a thriving Armenia has not changed, as of 2021 our new focus is advancing sustainability and transparency in Armenia’s travel industry. Our new mission is to make Armenia the #1 destination in the South Caucasus by incubating and launching extraordinary travel experiences that support rural job creation. We do this with our for-purpose travel brand, 2492 Travel, launched in 2022.

Experiential travel is a form of tourism that immerses travelers in a destination and transforms them through cultural, nature-based, wellness and/or adventure experiences. If it creates opportunities for travelers to meaningfully engage with local people and culture, rather than passively sightseeing in a destination, it’s an experience.

2492 Travel is our for-purpose travel brand launched in 2022 to share the experiences we incubate and accelerate with the world, as well as other extraordinary experiences in Armenia that meet our sustainability standards. While 2492 Travel does generate profit, that profit goes to support all the work we do as a non-profit organization in Armenia.

When we say we incubate travel experiences, we mean we build new travel products that don’t yet exist in Armenia and that immerse travelers in local culture and connect them with local people, creating opportunities for them to meaningfully connect with Armenia. Incubation starts with an idea for a new travel product. Sometimes we have existing elements that we can work with to turn the idea into reality, like a specific location in Armenia or cultural artifact. Other times we have to build it from zero. Either way, our team carefully constructs experiences with both travelers and local people in mind, conducting research, building experience narratives, training local hosts if they need it, ensuring that the experience meets international sustainability standards, and considering every detail of the experience, from the moment a traveler meets their host to when they say “See you soon.” When we say experience acceleration, we mean working with local partners who already have an existing travel experience and working with them to increase its unique appeal, profitability, marketing content, promotion, and/or sustainable practices.

We are no longer crowdfunding to support local projects in Armenia. However, our Open Source fundraising platform to launch radically transparent and impactful local projects is available to non-profit organizations and initiatives in Armenia. Learn more and apply here.

Our core team is based in Yerevan, Armenia, while our ambassadors and community members are located around the globe. We are a registered non-profit organization in Armenia and a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization in the United States. All our projects are implemented in Armenia and Artsakh, benefitting local people.

No. We are a non-profit, non-governmental, non-political, and non-religious organization. We work with anyone who shares our values of radical transparency, operational efficiency, cooperation, trust, and inclusivity.

All our past projects, including project and budget sheets, can be found on our Past Projects page.

If you have an idea for a one-of-a-kind travel product that will put Armenia on the map as an alluring travel destination, we’d love to hear from you! Just submit your idea here and our team will get back to you shortly. If you have a proposal for a socio-economic project that will raise the standard of living in Armenia and are seeking support through 1A Open Source, read about our requirements and submit your proposal here. If you’d like to get involved in other ways, please reach out to us at contact@onearmenia.org.