The FINANCIAL — Decreasing the prices of accommodation at hotels and guesthouses would greatly increase the number of tourists in Georgia, believes Nata Kvachantiradze, Director of the Georgian Tourism Association.
GTA, which unites leading private travel companies in Georgia, is working on hotel price regulation in Georgia.
“Unfortunately most guesthouses and hotel networks in the country offer only high prices to tourists. Our association is working on a format of price regulation. Tourists often complain about the prices of hotels here. Hotels in our country are three times more expensive than in other countries. Flights to Georgia should also be cheaper,” Kvachantiradze said.
“One of the most serious problems in terms of tourism in Georgia is infrastructure development and level of service. Developing the infrastructure does not just mean having good quality road surfaces. It also involves improving the services at hotels, creating signs which help tourists navigate around the country and many other things. Infrastructure development is improving nowadays and is much better than it was 2-3 years ago,” Kvachantiradze said.
“Service level is another very important component of tourism development. Mainly small guesthouses have problems with their level of service. Unfortunately most of the guesthouse owners and managers in the regions don’t know how to properly host tourists. The Government and private sector should be actively involved in solving this problem. The owners of guesthouses must be educated on the subject,” Kvachantiradze said.
“In most of our international projects which we established together with donor organizations, we arranged some trainings in different regions of Georgia. We mostly emphasized the guesthouses which are located near the protected territories of Georgia. We did our best by giving them knowledge of how to improve their level of service,” Kvachantiradze said.
According to Kvachantiradze GTA has increased the number of its member companies. 46 tourism organizations are now members of GTA.
“Casino Adjara recently became a member of GTA. We support different sectors connected with the tourism industry,” Kvachantiradze said.
“Recently we hosted some French tourism companies in Georgia and arranged an info tour for them,” Kvachantiradze said.
“Georgian hospitality is one of the main attractions for foreigners visiting the country. The traditional cuisine is also very popular and famed amongst tourists. All of the tours arranged within Georgia end with a hearty Georgian ‘Supra’ where traditional food is served. Georgian wine is also well-known among foreigners. Cultural sightseeing, our ethnography and history all combine to make our country an interesting place to visit.
Furthermore, in recent times adventure tourism has become popular. In terms of this both Kazbegi, Tusheti and Svaneti are quite popular. Some people visit Georgia specifically to go rafting here as well,” Kvachantiradze said.
Kvachantiradze claims that Tbilisi and Mtskheta are the two top tourist destinations with foreigners. Tour operators always include these two cities in their itineraries.
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