Adjara Making Preparations to Host Tourists; Where GEL 4.3 million Goes

Summer tourism season is approaching and tourism industry services acquire special importance, even more so the Black Sea coastline was badly hit by the pandemic’s second wave in 2020.

Government officials and representatives of the National Center for Disease Control have actualized discussions for providing a safe and virus-free environment for foreign tourists by satisfying all safety standards. As noted by the head of the Adjara Tourism and Resorts Department, various campaigns will be held in 4 key directions and the Adjara Government will spend GEL 4.3 million on the mentioned campaigns that will start in 2 weeks.

“First, we will provide training for the private sector in order that they meet all safety standards amid the pandemic. We will deliver all regulations to all families to ensure the safe hosting of tourists. Our projects are adapted to the pandemic challenges and we will do our best to promote the fulfillment of these regulations. In this respect, we will start working with local companies in 2 weeks and the autonomous budget will spend GEL 650,000 on the mentioned activities”, Tinatin Zoidze said. Another important priority calls for holding marketing campaigns in Georgia and abroad, on which the department will spend GEL 1.5 million, Tinatin Zoidze pointed out.

“Amid the pandemic, the global marketing cannot be fulfilled as efficiently as in standard non-COVID period, because the third wave rages in our target European countries and the situation is changing at cosmic paces. In the long-term perspective, large-scale campaigns cannot be planned amid the pandemic; therefore, we are confined with only small target campaigns. We will make focus on specific directions, from where flights will be fulfilled to our country. I mean both neighboring countries and the countries from where flights are fulfilled – Ukraine, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Israel. As for the domestic tourism stimulation, we will offer many other directions to our domestic tourists, besides beach services. To this end, we have marked routes in all municipalities of Adjara. We will also introduce new tourism products’, Tinatin Zoidze said.

The third priority calls for developing services, including by developing a new web platform. On this project, the Tourism Administration will spend GEL 650,000. “Developing services and infrastructures in the country and the region is one of the challenges. Therefore, the Tourism Department will use the pandemic period for developing new services. We will also activate individual training programs, long-term courses in the English language, develop key tourism routes in highland Adjara. The new project will be launched for guides, including we will prepare a special guidebook. We are preparing video lessons for those people who have a family business in highland Adjara. As a result, these family businesses will have access to fixed assets that the Tourism Department is developing”, Tinatin Zoidze said. Furthermore, one of the biggest budgets will be spent on arranging infrastructure for tourism locations in Adjara.

“Together with the Infrastructure Development Agency, the tourism department was implementing the infrastructure development projects. We have been implementing the 6 mountains exploration project that will outline many new routes to offer to foreign visitors”, the Adjara Tourism Department head noted and added that developing tourism products implies an arrangement of new routes, tourism footpaths, necessary infrastructure, and shelters. GEL 1.5 million will be spent on all these projects in 2010, Tinatin Zoidze pointed out.