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Thursday,
August 2,
2007, #146 (1413) By Eter Tsotniashvili
On July 31, USAID's SME Support Project hosted a presentation of the Tourism Inventory Assessment Project at the Courtyard Marriott. Initiated in 2005, the Tourism Inventory Assessment Project was developed to support small and medium businesses by providing an assessment of the current situation of Georgia's tourism industry. "We were interested with tourists' thoughts, what they are most interested in. This was an overview about what is happening in the industry," USAID Director in Georgia Robert Wilson told the Messenger. USAID was acting in partnership with the Georgian Tourism Department and the American Chamber of Commerce for Georgia (AmCham Georgia). The organizations reviewed tourism facilities in all provinces, except Abkhazia and South Ossetia, investigating a total of 2277 tourist facilities. Betsy Haskell of AmCham Georgia said they first surveyed facilities serving tourists, including museums, restaurants and hotels, aiming to identify the strengths, weakness, opportunities and threats to the Georgian tourist industry. Deputy head of the Tourism Department Bakur Lashkarava recalls that before the project was launched, they asked tourist agencies and the tourism department to collect up-to-date information about Georgia's tourist infrastructure. "But unfortunately we did not manage to get enough information. Some of it was outdated information, some was quite wrong and some other tourism facilities had been closed. That's why we decided to make a database which will be renewed constantly and will be available for any tourist," he said at the project's presentation. A key bit of the project is an online tourist map, which will be available from September on www.tourism.gov.ge. Using the map, visitors can do things like checking out available hotels and their prices. "With the help of GPS and the online map, it will be possible to define the position of each venue. The map and its search system will enable any user to find information about lodging and museums based on price and location," Lashkarava said. And who will convince people to come? One promoter is the America-Georgia Business Development Council, formed in January 1998 to raise Georgia's profile in North America. A number of companies have been involved in trying to promote Georgia as an exciting place to visit, invest and do business. There are similar efforts to increase the allure of Georgia as a tourist destination. According to Otar Bubashvili, head of the Tourism Department, negotiations with airlines have begun to increase flights to the country at more affordable prices. The latest figures show a 75 percent increase of the number of tourists to Georgia this year compared with previous years. The most popular destinations in Georgia are the Black Sea resort towns of Batumi and Kobuleti. Of growing popularity is the mountainous province of Svaneti. Minister of Economic Development Giorgi Arveladze claimed there were 1200 tourists in Svaneti last year, and predicted this number to reach 4000 this year.
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USAID project
to study, boost Georgian tourism industry
