The FINANCIAL — 2,789,080 people visited Georgia in the first eight months of 2012 which is 55 percent more (1,795,781) compared to the same period of 2011 according to the Georgian National Tourism Agency (GNTA).
The FINANCIAL — 2,789,080 people visited Georgia in the first eight months of 2012 which is 55 percent more (1,795,781) compared to the same period of 2011 according to the Georgian National Tourism Agency (GNTA). The biggest rise was reported in May (71 percent).
“The total number of tourists for 2012 is expected to exceed 3.7 million by the end of the year,” Maia Sidamonidze, Head of the GNTA, told The FINANCIAL.
Almost half of these travellers visited Adjara. In total 1,054,166 foreign travellers spent their vacations in Adjara in the summer of 2012 which is 24 percent more compared to the summer of 2011.
Adjara is the most popular destination with local travellers as well. Most of the younger generations tend to spend their summer holidays in the country’s seaside resorts. 521,253 Georgians visited Adjara in the summer. This is still 102 percent less than foreign travellers in Adjara though.
The Georgian Tourism Agency is trying to expand the summer season in the sea resorts by holding cultural events too. Batumi will host the international festival INTER ART BATUMI 2012 this September. Georgian and European singers, painters and photographers will all be taking part.
“The 2012 summer season started early this year,” David Kikava, Head of the Adjara Tourism Center told The FINANCIAL. “May, June and July were marked with good weather and lots of visitors. The weather hasn’t been perfect in August but it did not affect the raised number of tourists as lots of cultural events took place in August.”
Apart from festivals and concerts, almost all restaurants and cafes in Batumi and other cities also offered special music programmes to visitors. Lots of tourist visited the Batumi Dolphinarium, the Botanical Garden, Mtirala National Park, Seaside Boulevard and Batumi Piazza.
Summer has already ended but Adjara is striving to become a popular destination during all four seasons.
“We are developing ski resorts, cruise tourism, wine tourism,” Kikava explained. “At the same time we are intensively working on bird-watching and MICE tourism. Adjara, which has a unique hall for bird enthusiasts, will host lots of visitors in this direction. Moreover, we are planning to hold a ‘Bird Festival’ in September.”
According to the international organization Batumi Raptor Count 165,000 migrating wasp-eater eagles were detected on September 3. This is much more than the last world record – 124,000 honey buzzards in a day.”
Other regions of Georgia hosted lots of visitors this year as well. Kakheti, Kazbegi and Svaneti are especially popular with both local and foreign travellers. Travel agency Geowaypoint has been working on local tours for three years.
“The number of travellers this year has been greatly increased compared to the last two years,” said Davit Kokhreidze, Director of Geowaypoint. “One or two day tours are very popular in Kakheti, which has lots of historical and cultural monuments. For longer tours Svaneti and Kazbegi are much in demand. Svaneti is the most popular destination for hikers. Furthermore, Georgia is a relatively cheap country and this helps it to attract a large number of tourists, those looking for value for their money.”
Preparing for the winter season is an intensive process in Svaneti. The rehabilitation of Mestia was started in 2010 and is still in progress.
“Mountain Hatsvali is now ready for tourists,” Sidamonidze said. “We are starting to create infrastructure on the Mountain Tetnuldi. The road has already been built, which is 3,300 metres above sea level. The total length of eight ski slopes and ropeways will be 90 km. Hotels and eateries have also been projected for building. The main factor which distinguishes Svaneti from other European winter resorts is that the season there is a month and half longer.”
Mestia, Gudauri and Bakuriani are all ready to host a big amount of tourists this winter.
Georgia is striving to become a popular destination for western European countries but for the moment it is still more popular with its neighbour counties. In total 810,698 Turkish travellers visited Georgia in the first seven months of 2012. 178,166 out of them spent holidays in Adjara, which is 33 percent of the total number of visitors to Adjara. Armenia, Iran, Azerbaijan, Ukraine, Russia, Israel, Poland and Belorussia are the countries where the main amount of visitors to Georgia come from.
Georgia is already starting preparations for 2013. The main focus in the second half of 2012 and 2013 will be on MICE, wine, adventure and culture tourism.
“MICE tourism is the most profitable direction of tourism for Georgia,” Sidamonidze said. “Travellers that come for business spend the largest amount of money per person. But in total travellers who come for rest and relaxation make up the largest share of the total amount and therefore being in the biggest revenue for the country. Georgia has huge potential to become an important centre of MICE tourism.”
In total Georgia is expecting 4.8 million foreign visitors in 2013. Up to 2 million tourists will visit Adjara next year according to Kikava. Adjara as well as the entire country is getting ready to present lots of interesting novelties to all its visitors.
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