Current Situation in the Tourism Sector in Georgia Programme funded by the EUROPEAN UNION Current Situation in the Tourism Sector in Georgia July 18, 2014, Porto Palace Hotel, Thessaloniki, Greece International Center or Caucasus Tourism Marina Metreveli BSB-TOUR project has been financed from the European Union and the Joint Operational Programme “Black Sea Basin 2007-2013”.

Content General information about Georgia Programme funded by the EUROPEAN UNION Content General information about Georgia Tourism Sector in the country Problems, challenges and opportunities BSB-TOUR project has been financed from the European Union and the Joint Operational Programme “Black Sea Basin 2007-2013”.

General information about Georgia Programme funded by the EUROPEAN UNION General information about Georgia BSB-TOUR project has been financed from the European Union and the Joint Operational Programme “Black Sea Basin 2007-2013”.

General information about Georgia Programme funded by the EUROPEAN UNION General information about Georgia Territory – 69,700 m2 (120th) Capital – Tbilisi Population – 4,935,880 (2013 estimate) Official Language – Georgian (71%) Ethnic Groups – Georgian (83.8%), Azerbaijani (6.5%), Armenian (5.7%), Russian (1.5%), others (2.5%) Currency – Georgian Lari – GEL - BSB-TOUR project has been financed from the European Union and the Joint Operational Programme “Black Sea Basin 2007-2013”.

General information about Georgia Programme funded by the EUROPEAN UNION General information about Georgia Climate – subtropical to continental Time Zone – CET (UTC + 4) Religion – Georgian Orthodox Church (83.9%) (2002) Official Language – Georgian (71%) Alphabet-აბგდევზთიკლმნოპჟრსტუფქღყშჩცძწჭხჯჰ Literature – Martyrdom of the Holy Queen Shushanik Music - Chakrulo (ჩაკრულო), Voyager Golden Record - Voyager spacecraft in 1977.  BSB-TOUR project has been financed from the European Union and the Joint Operational Programme “Black Sea Basin 2007-2013”.

General information about Georgia Programme funded by the EUROPEAN UNION General information about Georgia Country – Unitary Semi-Presidential Republic President – Giorgi Margvelashvili Prime Minister – Irakli Gharibashvili Speaker of the Parliament – Davit Usupashvili Independence – 1918 (Russian Empire), 1921 (Soviet re-conquest), 1991 (Soviet Union) BSB-TOUR project has been financed from the European Union and the Joint Operational Programme “Black Sea Basin 2007-2013”.

Tourism Sector in the Country Programme funded by the EUROPEAN UNION Tourism Sector in the Country Georgian National Tourism Administration is responsible for tourism policy development Marketing Department Destination Development Department Planning and Development Department Administrative Department International Tourism Learning Center http://gnta.ge/about-us/what-we-do/ BSB-TOUR project has been financed from the European Union and the Joint Operational Programme “Black Sea Basin 2007-2013”.

Tourism Sector in the Country Programme funded by the EUROPEAN UNION Tourism Sector in the Country Up to 80 Civil Society Organizations (CSO) registered to be working on Culture and Tourism. ICCT – Memorandum of Cooperation with GNTA Parsa (Coalition for Independent Living) – accessible tourism BSB-TOUR project has been financed from the European Union and the Joint Operational Programme “Black Sea Basin 2007-2013”.

Tourism Sector in the Country Programme funded by the EUROPEAN UNION Tourism Sector in the Country In 2013 the number of international arrivals grew by 22%, overstepping the five million mark for the first time. 59% of Georgia’s service export revenue comes from tourism Competitiveness of Georgian Tourism on the world market increased by seven positions ranking 66th among 140 nations in the Travel & Tourism Competitiveness index (Score: 4.10 in 2013) compared with 2011 (73th position). BSB-TOUR project has been financed from the European Union and the Joint Operational Programme “Black Sea Basin 2007-2013”.

Tourism Sector in the Country Programme funded by the EUROPEAN UNION Tourism Sector in the Country Country 2012 2013 Change In % Turkey 1,533,236 1,597,438 64,202 4% Armenia 921,929 1,291,838 369,909 40% Azerbaijan 931,933 1,075,857 143,924 15% Russia 513,930 767,396 253,466 49% Ukraine 76,610 126,797 50,187 66% Iran 89,697 85,598 -4,099 -5% Iraq 6,947 41,239 34,292 494% Israel 30,851 39,922 9,071 29% Poland 20,563 36,946 16,383 80% Germany 26,448 30,815 4,367 17% USA 28,513 26,713 -1,800 -6% Greece 19,777 22,024 2,247 11% Kazakhstan 15,115 21,148 6,033 United 14,805 16,672 1,867 13% Kingdom France 12,004 14,239 2,235 19% BSB-TOUR project has been financed from the European Union and the Joint Operational Programme “Black Sea Basin 2007-2013”.

Tourism Sector in the Country Programme funded by the EUROPEAN UNION Tourism Sector in the Country Purpose of visit:   BSB-TOUR project has been financed from the European Union and the Joint Operational Programme “Black Sea Basin 2007-2013”.

Tourism Sector in the Country Programme funded by the EUROPEAN UNION Tourism Sector in the Country Most visited destinations:   BSB-TOUR project has been financed from the European Union and the Joint Operational Programme “Black Sea Basin 2007-2013”.

Tourism Sector in the Country Programme funded by the EUROPEAN UNION Tourism Sector in the Country Tourism portion in GDP increased from 5.9% to 6.6% The average expenditure per visitor – GEL 800 (Euro 330):   BSB-TOUR project has been financed from the European Union and the Joint Operational Programme “Black Sea Basin 2007-2013”.

Tourism Sector in the Country Programme funded by the EUROPEAN UNION Tourism Sector in the Country Activities during the visit:   BSB-TOUR project has been financed from the European Union and the Joint Operational Programme “Black Sea Basin 2007-2013”.

Tourism Sector in the Country Programme funded by the EUROPEAN UNION Tourism Sector in the Country Satisfaction Level – Maximum score - 4:   BSB-TOUR project has been financed from the European Union and the Joint Operational Programme “Black Sea Basin 2007-2013”.

Problems, Challenges and Opportunities Programme funded by the EUROPEAN UNION Problems, Challenges and Opportunities Satisfaction Level / Complaints: Satisfied – 74% More-less satisfied – 25% Dissatisfied – 0.4% Did not answer the question – 0.6% Did not face any problems – 86% Had difficulties with transport – 4% Complained about foreign language capacity – 2% Road conditions in Kazbegi – 2% Public toilets – 1.7% Border-crossing – 1% Navigating/signs – 1%   BSB-TOUR project has been financed from the European Union and the Joint Operational Programme “Black Sea Basin 2007-2013”.

Problems, Challenges and Opportunities Programme funded by the EUROPEAN UNION Problems, Challenges and Opportunities Types of tourism: Bike tours – cross-country (Kakheti and Meskheti) and mountain bike tours (Svaneti, Khevi, Tusheti and Khevsureti); Jeep tours – wonderful forests and unique landscape; Rafting – 6 different levels, over 26,000 rivers; Horse Riding – for beginner and professionals; Fishing – provided fishing rod, fishnet, all necessary equipment;   BSB-TOUR project has been financed from the European Union and the Joint Operational Programme “Black Sea Basin 2007-2013”.

Problems, Challenges and Opportunities Programme funded by the EUROPEAN UNION Problems, Challenges and Opportunities Types of tourism: Hunting – partridges, pheasants, ducks, wild chicken and hogs; Diving – lakes, underwater caves and Black Sea; Trekking – Georgian culture and traditions (UNESCO 4 monuments; Wine tours – first production over 7,000 years ago; Culinary tours. https://www.google.ge/search?q=georgian+cuisine&espv=2&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=ueW_U7ycC4WyywOd54FQ&sqi=2&ved=0CAYQ_AUoAQ&biw=1440&bih=799   BSB-TOUR project has been financed from the European Union and the Joint Operational Programme “Black Sea Basin 2007-2013”.

Problems, Challenges and Opportunities Programme funded by the EUROPEAN UNION Problems, Challenges and Opportunities   BSB-TOUR project has been financed from the European Union and the Joint Operational Programme “Black Sea Basin 2007-2013”.

Problems, Challenges and Opportunities Programme funded by the EUROPEAN UNION Problems, Challenges and Opportunities Strengths – Cultural and historical heritage, cuisine, natural contrasts, spa, rated in top 10 countries to travel; Weaknesses – insufficient infrastructure, skilled staff (vocational education programs) Opportunities – Investors, successful reforms, visa liberalization, growing economy Threats – Political developments, competing countries BSB-TOUR project has been financed from the European Union and the Joint Operational Programme “Black Sea Basin 2007-2013”.

Problems, Challenges and Opportunities Programme funded by the EUROPEAN UNION Problems, Challenges and Opportunities Development Opportunities: Health spa and wellness tourism (more than 2,400 natural springs with different mineral composition; Eco-tourism – protected areas (7% of the total territory); Adventure sports, water sports, mountain sports; Cultural tourism – 12,000 monuments – 3,000 years of cultural history; Agro-tourism – wine and gourmet tours, more than 500 varieties of grapes, local tastes BSB-TOUR project has been financed from the European Union and the Joint Operational Programme “Black Sea Basin 2007-2013”.

Thank you for attention! Programme funded by the EUROPEAN UNION Thank you for attention! BSB-TOUR project has been financed from the European Union and the Joint Operational Programme “Black Sea Basin 2007-2013”.