Mtirala Continues to Develop Ecotourism - Wine House, Bridges, and Cottages
The Minister of Environment Protection and Agriculture, Otar Shamugia, together with Tornike Rizhvadze, the Chairman of the Government of the Autonomous Republic of Ajara, inspected the ongoing ecotourism works in the Mtirala National Park.
In Mtirala National Park, which is one of the most popular places for travel lovers, the construction works of eco-tourism cottages, Adjarian wine house and cafeteria are in progress and at the stage of completion, which will make the trip to Mtirala National Park even more diverse.
"This year, we have a significant increase in visitors to the protected territories. Compared to the same period last year, the number of visitors has increased by 80%, which is very important; We think this number will double by the end of the year. We are actively working to organize the appropriate ecotourism infrastructure in the protected areas, which is important to attract visitors. Even during the pandemic, the Agency of Protected Areas was smoothly carrying out the work of arranging the ecotourism infrastructure. Last year we started to arrange a network of 1000 km long trails, for which more than 30 million GEL was allocated from the budget. One of the most important projects is also implemented in Mtirala National Park - Mtirala National Park is connected to Kintrish Protected Area. Approximately 7 million GEL is provided for this project. In the future, we will actively continue the development of ecotourism services and the arrangement of the relevant infrastructure in the protected areas", said the Minister of Environment Protection and Agriculture, Otar Shamugia.
In 2023, the works of designing and arranging the network of footpaths connecting the administrations of the Mtirala National Park and the protected areas of Kintrish and the tourist-recreational infrastructure will be completed with the accompanying ecotourism infrastructure: shelters, fire pits, bridges, overlooks and others. The unique nature of Mtirala National Park has been internationally recognized many times. Mtirala National Park is one example of the benefits of developing ecotourism in protected areas; After the establishment of the National Park, beekeeping was developed nearby, small tourist facilities, hotel infrastructure were organized, and jobs were created.
As the chairman of the government of Adjara, Tornike Rizhvadze, noted, that Mtirala National Park is one of the best in Georgia, and the government of Adjara will always support its further development.
It should be noted that Mtirala National Park is one of the most popular protected areas with a large number of visitors. The National Park has already hosted 41,681 visitors during the 7 months of 2022.
Together with the minister, Minister of Agriculture of Adjara Zaza Shavadze, Mayor of Kobuleti Municipality Levan Zoidze, Member of the Parliament of Georgia, Majority Deputy of Kobuleti Zaal Mikeladze and Chairman of the Protected Areas Agency Davit Iosebashvili were present in Mtirala National Park.