The FINANCIAL — The new government came to power with plans for huge changes in all directions, but the tourism sector development strategy doesn’t seem to have changed significantly at all.
The FINANCIAL — The new government came to power with plans for huge changes in all directions, but the tourism sector development strategy doesn’t seem to have changed significantly at all. “Our aim is to improve the current results and move the tourism industry to a totally new qualitative stage,” Dimitry Kumsishvili, First Deputy of the Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development, told The FINANCIAL.
“Involvement of the private sector is essential for the development of tourism, but it is not enough for real changes and improvement in the sphere,” said Giorgi Kurtskhalia, professor of economics. “Overall, tourism is developing quite well, but if the new government wants to gain greater success they should form a better and well-calculated strategy. Huge changes are necessary. At the first stage, they have to pay a great deal of attention to the development of internal tourism.”
“The private sector will be extensively involved in forming a tourism development strategy. This practice will be continued in the future as well,” Kumsishvili said.
While talking about the changes, Kumsishvili said that they are working to renew their legislative base under the EU Twinning Project and form a Destination Management Organisation. All of these will support tourism development in the country.
But this is not a project of the new government as Maia Sidamonidze, former Chairman of the Georgian National Tourism Administration, told The FINANCIAL in December 2011: “Some of our plans include: the starting of an EU Twinning Project. The Project includes creating the structure of a Destination Management Organisation, improving the legal system and increasing the qualifications of people employed in the sector.”
“We plan to minimize the obstacles for tourism development in the long-term perspective. We will pay attention to the following directions: Development of tourism infrastructure, increase of service quality, more marketing activities, entering new markets and the developing of new tourism products,” Kumsishvili noted. “We will put the main focus on adventure, wine and MICE tourism.”
All of this is essential for the overall development of tourism, but in reality this strategy doesn’t differ from the strategy of the old government. The Deputy Minister says that the most profitable type of tourism is Green Tourism. Georgia has quite big potential and tourism resources in this direction.
“Therefore we are planning intensive work. This niche holds quite a big role in planning the regional development strategy. Work on the development strategy of Imereti, in the western region of Georgia, has already finished, where the development of Green Tourism takes one of the leading places. Wine and wellness tourism are profitable directions as well,” he said.
Considering these directions as the most profitable is what really makes the new government’s strategy different from the old one. “The most profitable type of tourism in Georgia is business tourism as business travellers spend the largest amount of money. Then again, visitors that are coming to holiday make up the biggest share of all the tourists in the country therefore they bring in the biggest revenue,” Sidamonidze said last year.
Kumsishvili says that they will make Georgia an important centre of MICE tourism, but this needs for additional infrastructure to be developed.
For further development of tourism the following activities are needed: promoting Georgia on international markets, improving infrastructure, having qualified staff in the business as well as the developing of the low-cost air-companies market. “Low-cost air-companies as well as hotels are gradually entering the Georgian market, which will automatically make prices lower,” Kumsishvili said.
Nowadays the Georgian National Tourism Administration is working without a chairman as Maia Sidamonidze left the position on New Year’s Eve.
According to recently-updated information the number of international travellers was 4,389,256 in 2012, demonstrating a 56% increase over the previous year. The growth in the Georgian tourism industry has been faster than the rest of the world. The most popular purpose for visiting Georgia is holiday, leisure or recreation (40%). Only 8% travel for business or professional purposes. Travellers also arrive in Georgia for shopping (7%), transit (9%) or other purposes (12%). The average duration of a holiday in the country is nine days, while the average visitor stays for just two days. The average expenditure of an international visitor in Georgia is GEL 546.
Kumsishvili says that the course of tourism development will continue and that this year Georgia will receive much more tourists compared to 2012. The latest statistics show that the number of travellers from Russia is rapidly growing as Georgia’s new political leadership announced that it wants to normalize the political situation with its large neighbour, with whom Georgia broke off diplomatic ties after the 2008 war over the two breakaway provinces of South Ossetia and Abkhazia.
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