Guest House Iris

As the first female guesthouse owner in the town of Alaverdi, Irina Israyelyan founded Iris Guesthouse to present the iconic natural landscape, culinary traditions, and culture of the Lori region. From her diverse menu, Irina offers three different cooking classes to her visitors. One of them is a master class on making butter soup (tanov apoor) which is a common dish in Lori cuisine. Tan soup is made by a unique recipe, and the main ingredient is the traditional buttermilk drink called “tan”. During the preparation of the soup, visitors will learn how the “tan” was made in ancient times by mixing it in a churn. “Tan” soup was a modest meal among the villagers and, despite its name, it contains few calories. The guesthouse owner will share with the guests her own recipe, which is made at home. Another important feature of this recipe is that the soup is not mixed at all, and when the soup starts to boil, each participant can enrich the taste of the soup by adding seasonal herbs to it.

Marketing approach

The organization has Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/IrisGuestHouseArmenia/) and Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/bnbiris/) pages, it is registered on Booking.com and TripAdvisor and has a Google Maps location.

Financial situation

Financial stability is ensured mainly by the income from the sale of products and services and through participation in various grant programs. At the same time, a certain amount of money is always provided as an inviolable financial means of ensuring business continuity.

Key success factors and challenges

The main guarantee of success is to set the right and clear goals and, in general, purposefulness, devotion to one's own work and having the necessary skills (organizational, food preparation) for the organized work.

The ability to be open and understanding to new ideas is also important, as well as the flexibility and ability to respond quickly to changes (the bakery has become a family café as a result of COVID-19). The main challenge is the unreasonable pricing by organizations offering such services and the situation created by COVID-19 in general.

Plans for future development

In the near future, it is planned to diversify the target market, in addition to focusing on inbound tourism, to start adapting services to the features and requirements of domestic tourism. It is also planned to develop tourism products based on the cultural elements of this region, in particular the use of local bakery.

Source of the images: https://www.facebook.com/IrisGuestHouseArmenia