The FINANCIAL — “Tbilisi will be maintaining its key characteristics of hospitality, traditions, and tolerance,” Zviad Archuadze, Head of the Economical Policy Department of Tbilisi Municipality told The FINANCIAL. The capital city is becoming established as a business hub of the South Caucasus, becoming more and more attractive for travellers from around the world. Mr. Archuadze spoke about the already planned changes which should motivate tourists to visit Georgia’s capital.
“In 2011 Tbilisi Municipality will be oriented on visitors and investors who want to use our city as the starting point for business expansion in the region. Our city will more focused on green economics, energy efficient projects and know-how. Tbilisi will host more people with high incomes,” Archuadze said.
Archuadze believes that having a large number of international airlines in the country is important for raising the number of visitors. He says the signs and names of streets in Tbilisi should be written in a language that tourists can understand easily too, such as English.
“There are many things to do in order to improve the city’s architecture. The city needs more tourism attractions, seasonal events and festivals to attract tourists. Guests who visit Tbilisi to do business should have the ability, after the working day, to become acquainted with Georgian culture and traditions. There should be more clubs in the city for tourists to visit,” Archuadze said.
“The beautiful nature of Tbilisi is still undiscovered. This is one of the main advantages of our city. As well as the museums, old city architecture, hospitality and cuisine, we should put more emphasis on showing the natural beauty of our capital city,” Archuadze said.
As Archuadze says, in order to increase the number of young tourists, it’s necessary to have low prices at guesthouses and hotels. Information about Tbilisi should definitely be easily accessible for young visitors.
“There should be many clubs where young people can have fun. In that respect they should have the opportunity to see what Georgian folk music is and learn a bit about Georgian traditions. We should have as many street shows as we can. While walking around Tbilisi travellers should feel that the streets are alive,” Archuadze told The FINANCIAL.
“There are already well established festivals in Tbilisi. We have a theatre festival, jazz festival and Tbilisi fashion Week,” Archuadze said.
“Young tourists should be notified that close to Tbilisi there are the fantastic ski resorts Gudauri and Kazbegi. We should prepare 3 day tour packages in order to make tourists stay longer than just 1 day. Due to the new roads now it’s now easier to visit different places in Georgia from Tbilisi,” Archuadze said.
“There are some projects which are in the process of development, these include the offering of free WiFi in different areas of Tbilisi,” Archuadze said.
“I think we should build more hotels in order to decrease the overall prices of hotels and guesthouses. What our city does is that it creates and offers investors the most liberal conditions for buying land. We are trying to bring more visitors to the city. Conferences and forums bring many guests to the city. We want to show local people as well as foreigners that many people come here and we are working on this direction. We are oriented at supporting business, spreading information about the city and bringing visitors here,” Archuadze said.
In 2011 Tbilisi Municipality will be oriented at making transportation easier.
“We will work hard to make people travel faster and more comfortably. We are working on creating more ecological means of transport. The times are changing and our city is trying to keep up with the modern trends,” he added.
“We started working on the process of rebranding after the year 2008, when the August war was over. We tried to show the different sights of the city to our investors. We took part in different kinds of exhibitions. With all our forces we tried to show the abilities of our city. The working process on strategy development is still continuing and I think that this process will come to an end next year. In this strategy all of the needed elements for a modern city will be included,” Archuadze said.
“Our main aim is to work on a target audience. Next year we are holding the 5th international conference, that’s why we are trying to raise awareness of Tbilisi as a place of business meetings. Tbilisi is a place where foreign guests can meet each other and discuss their business,” Archuadze said.
According to Archuadze, information is the most valuable resource but it’s not easy to create. He says that the Tbilisi Municipality webpage is one of the most important sources for receiving information about the city.
“We are doing our best but there are companies and webpages which have their own information posted about Tbilisi. We should create an environment for attracting investors and businessmen and make the city a true meeting place,” Archuadze said.
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