The FINANCIAL — According to leading Georgian tour operators, inquired by the FINANCIAL, Kahketi and Stepantsminda regions are the most visited destinations by foreign tourists travelling to Georgia. Despite the August War with Russia, the country was visited by more foreigners in 2008 than in 2007. Tourists are attracted by the ancient monuments and historic buildings most of which were built in the early centuries.
The Georgian Department of Tourism and Resorts noted that 1,290,107 non-residents visited Georgia in 2008. In 2007 the number of tourist visiting Georgia was 1,051,752.
One of the questioned tour operators, BusinessTravelCom, divides tourists in to two categories: those visiting cities and those visiting mountainous regions and names Tbilisi and Svaneti as the most visited of these categories.
“In my opinion foreign tourists mostly visit Kakheti, Stepantsminda, Svaneti, Imereti and Meskheti areas in Georgia, what attracts foreign tourists to these places are the cultural monuments located there,” says Tsitsi Petriashvili, Tour-Operator of Georgian Express Travel.
“Kakheti, Stepantsminda and Gori-Uflistsikhe are the most visited places in Georgia by foreigners,” Exotour Officials note.
According to BusinessTravelCom, foreign tourists generally visit the places which represent the history and culture of Georgia most.
“What’s special about the most visited places by foreigners in Georgia is that they entail the Georgian spirit and culture most. These places amaze visitors with their beauty and historical background,” says Irakli Saparidze, Sales Manager of BusinessTravelCom.
“We can divide tourists in to two categories: those visiting cities and those visiting mountainous regions. Out of those who like to visit cities, they generally prefer Tbilisi, Kutaisi, Gori and Batumi. For those who like to journey to mountainous regions Svaneti and Kazbegi are the most popular destinations,” Saparidze notes.
Georgian tour operators say that they offer different kinds of tour packets and accommodation to tourists.
Georgian Express travel offers its consumers cultural, wine and rafting tours.
“We offer our customers different kinds of tours like Wine tours to the Kakheti Region, Classical tours to almost every corner of Georgia, and Mountain tours to Stepantsminda and Svaneti,” Exotour officials note.
“We offer a wide range of local tours to suit every customer’s demands. We have tours to Tbilisi, Mtskheta, Kazbegi, Kutaisi, Shiomgvime, Ananuri, Uplistsikhe, Sighnagi and others. Sometimes we combine the above-mentioned directions and make tour packages,” says Irakli Saparidze, BusinessTravelCom.
Georgian tour operators inquired by the FINANCIAL, say that they don’t advertise their companies in foreign countries.
“We advertise our company on our official website and at tourism exhibitions, like the one held in Batumi not long ago. We also advertise our activities with the help of newspaper The FINANCIAL. We don’t actually advertise in foreign countries because that recquires additional expenses,” Irakli Saparidze notes.
“Our advertisement is our high quality service, we don’t actually have official advertisements neither here in Georgia nor abroad. Advertising needs guarantees about the money spent which should be at least partially compensated, but we don’t have such guaranties,” Tsisi Petriashvili says.
According to the questioned tour operators, prices of tour packets depend on different aspects.
“The prices depend on the number of people wishing to take part in a tour. The more people the lower the price. The minimum price for a local tour per person is GEL 70 and the maximum price is GEL 460 per person. We have substantial discounts on group tours. Our tour package includes transportation in comfortable cars, minibuses or buses depending on the number of people, a guide, meal and hotel,” Irakli Saparidze notes.
“The main attribute of the tour packet is transportation cost. This is a fixed cost but an increasing number of people lowers it substantially. Another fixed cost is the guide. The hotel also contributes its portion. This is a variable cost and doesn’t depend on transportation and guide costs. Meals are another variable cost. That is pretty much it,” Saparidze says.
“The minimum price of different domestic tours starts from GEL 18, the maximum is GEL 200, taking in to account location and service quality. Our service includes transfer, hotel meals and guide accommodation,” notes Tsisi Petriashvili, from Georgian Express Travel.
The prices of different tour packages are determined first of all by service quality. Besides this, there are many other factors including holiday period, number of tourists and so on,” Petriashvili says.
According to Exotour officials, prices start from EUR 250 per person and can reach up to EUR 500.
“Tour packets include all kind of accommodation, it depends on the price. We offer transportation, hotel, meals and a guide to our customers. The prices are determined by the quality of hotels, distance to destination and how far the tourists want to go,” Exotour notes.
Georgian Express Travel and Exotour officials declare that a tour to the Svaneti region of Georgia is the most expensive.
“A Svanetian tour is the most expensive because of transportation costs,” Tsisi Petriashvili notes.
“The most expensive ones are to mountainous regions like Svaneti, Oshavi and Khevsureti. Travel to these regions costs a lot,” Exotour officials say.
According to BusinessTravelCom, the most expensive tour is the Mtskheta-Stepantsminda tour, because of the high transportation costs.
All of the inquired tour operators declare that the number of tourists visiting Georgia has decreased recently.
“Because of the political instability and economic crisis the number of foreign tourists in Georgia has substantially decreased,” Irakli Saparidze says.
“In accordance with last year, the number of tourists visiting Georgia has decreased by about 40%. We have only 3 or 4 groups of tourists when previously there were 10 per month,” Exotour notes.
Tourists are always interested in hotel accommodations and prices, but 2 of the questioned Georgian tour operators declare that Georgian hotels offer quite expensive rates.
“Actually, hotels in Georgia offer very high prices to customers,” Tsisi Petriashvili notes.
BusinessTravelCom declares that the prices vary depending on hotels and their location.
“The cheapest hotel in Tbilisi is GEL 50, but the regular prices start from USD 100 to USD 150,” Irakli Saparidze says.
According to BusinessTravelCom officials, it is totally safe to travel around Georgia.
“There is no present danger for tourists, because tourism is one of the most rapidly developing businesses in Georgia, and safety is the first concern to address when travelling, the issue is considered top and every effort is made to make it totally safe,” Saparidze says.
About the safety of visiting Georgia, Tsisi Petriashvili, from Georgian Express Travel, says that after the August events in Georgia it’s a bit risky for foreigners to visit the country.
“They don’t have any previous information about the regions which they are going to visit, about the infrastructure that they will be able to use and so it depends on their decision whether to visit Georgia or not,” Petriashvili says.
Written By Tako Khelaia
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