Akhaltsikhe State university

1. Akhaltsikhe State university Prof. Tina gelaSvili Rector of akhaltsikhe State University www.akhaltsikhe.edu.ge E-mail: rector@akhaltsikhe.edu.ge

2. Perspective of Tourizm Development in Mountainous Regions

3. In XXI c internationalization and globalization, relationship between countries became an axiom of political-economical development of the modern world. The world practice shows that integration processes first go in the neighboring countries. So, “neighbor’s factor “ has a particular importance in the economical development of the country.

4. Georgia borders with four countries: Turkey, Russia, Azerbaijan, and Armenia. That’s why foreign economical relationships of the country are connected firstly with these neighboring countries. Above mentioned is confirmed with the circumstance that 34,9%, of circulation .of foreign trade of Georgia comes to them. Turkey is the first trade partner. 16,5% of circulation .of foreign trade of the country comes to Turkey , Azerbaijan is the second partner - 10,6%.

5. Turkey and Georgia play a great role in neighborhood politics Tourism development in above mentioned countries is one of the greatest and fastest increasing perspective sphere of economics. It is able to bring foreign currency to the country in a short period. It is an integrated social-economical system which has a great influence on material and spiritual life of the society. Besides it is one of the stimulated factors of gaining the people’s benevolence, between the countries and in the countries. The reimburse of invested capital in tourism in the well organized conditions occurs more often during 5-10 years In heavy industry it needs some decades.

6. Travelling industry in the world tourism economics is becoming recognized and has a strategic importance from the point of diversification of export market, making new working places and reducing regional disproportion. According to the evaluation of world tourist organization (UNWTO) the number of travelers on the earth in recent 10 years will increase annually with 3,5 % and will reach 1,6 billion people For today more than 250. 000.000 man work in tourism sphere for world scale thus every tenth is employed. 7% of total amount of investment.11 % of world consumer expenditure, 5% of income taxation and one third of service international trade come on them.

7. Like in touristic regions of the world the number of tourists in Georgia is increasing every year. According to the data of the national tourism agency in 2011, 486 506 tourists have visited our country only in three months. It is 41% more than it was previous year. Turkey is on the first place according to international arrivals (149 145 visitors). Accordingly, the number of Turkish visitors in the territorial market of Georgia has increased by 47%, Azerbaijan is on the second place -139 706 visitors, Armenia is on the third place. It is interesting to mention that the tourists from Russia mainly to the Georgian winter resorts has increased by 35%.

8. As tourism is a modern social-economical phenomenon, very important is the place of tourism in the development of mountainous regions. Not only ecological but recreational potential should be envisaged as well. From this point of view very important is the development of mountainous –skiing tourism. This is a unique potential.

9. The main problem of mountainous –skiing resorts is its seasonal character..They work and get income only for 100 days in a year. when they are obliged to spend money during the whole year. Georgia has a great opportunity in this direction as the slopes of the mountains are covered with snow from November till April. Mountainous resorts, Gudauri and Bakuriani satisfy the requirements of international tourists. It should be mentioned that today skiing routes in mountainous regions of Ajara and Svaneti are being built in a high speed. It is interesting that in Georgia out of tourists interested in the winter tourism, 60% are foreigners ( Ukraine- 30%, Russia- 15%, Latvia - _12, Azerbaijan- 10% ,Armenia –10%, Great Britain- -6% ,Germany – 5%, Israel- 6%), but 40 % are Georgians .

10. Successfully developing tourism finds its reflection in the development of main spheres of the country or of separate regions. To transform the structure of economics it is necessary to establish the broad network of tourism industry. It is a well known fact that the mountainous regions are treasure of cultural heritage of Mankind, be architectural monuments or models of public life, unique samples of folklore or others. That’s why mountainous regions generally and Georgia among them may be considered to be a sphere of stable development of special kinds of tourism such as: cultural tourism, ecotourism, agro tourism, youth and adventure tourism, treatment tourism and others Agro tourism has an exceptional importance in Samtskhe-Javakheti and south-west of Turkey. Great attention is paid to the above mentioned direction as it helps to stop migration, to employ village residents, to preserve and popularize cultural traditions, to develop village infrastructure.

11. Besides it will support: • development of tourism infrastructure in rural regions; • development of all year tourism as agro tourism is functioning all the year round. • Attracting tourists to the villages; • to establish new working places in the villages; • to raise the level of living of villagers; • to protect the environment; • to establish new diversified touristic segment ; • to bring foreign currency to the country; • diversification of local economics , especially in the villages where residents of the villages are employed according to the sessions and sometimes has a n accidental character; • to provide the investment in local economics.

12. It is clear that very often tourist product goes to the international market unprepared. What does“unprepared” mean ? It means the incomplete knowledge of tourists’ demands. For this the product doesn’t include expected service. It is conditioned with the fact that there are no informational centers in the mountainous regions to give the information they require either to foreign or local tourists

13. Though tourism and hospitality industry in our country is increasing rapidly and the majority of universities are preparing specialists in tourism, it is desirable to establish a professional school which will be oriented on preparing qualified specialists. Such as: tourist guides, tour operators and so on.

14. Agro tourism is comparatively newly developed branch of tourism. Mountainous regions are lack of experience in this direction and that’s why it is very difficult to make a special program which will envisage almost everything interesting for them. Such as: hunting, fishing , horse riding,  mowing;  etc for men and knitting, cooking embroidering for women with the hosts and hostesses . The tourists in the villages are mainly foreign families with 2-4 members and if a family comes with a child in this case it’s better to put them up in the family who have children of the same age. The host family should know the foreign language to communicate.

15. We consider that planning and developing agro tourism in mountainous regions should envisage three main principles of stable development: • ecological stability which will support joint development of basic ecological processes, and biodiversity and biological . resources; • social and cultural stability which will provide the protection of people’s life, culture and values when the cultural self-consciousness  improves; • economical stability which provides the economic affectivity of development when selected method of using resources gives us the guarantee to reserve the resources. for future generation.

16. To solve the above mentioned problems to my mind it’s better to inform the residents of the village regularly about the events in tourism sphere (conferences, trainings,  briefings. presentations, meetings, news..). Great role in this is given to students and future young personnel. They should hold the informational work about the role of tourism in the villages chosen for agro tourism. Teams of residents of villages and administration should be prepared on the place to receive tourists.

17. It is desirable to prepare informational and advertisement materials in accordance of foreign analog (Cyprus, Bulgaria, and so on). As a rule, advert materials about village tourism are richly illustrated with coloured photos describing peasants’ houses and yard, and vast information about the district receiving tourists, especially about traditions and customs.

18. Tourist firms should mainly carry out agro tourism product to the touristic market as the villagers don’t have any opportunities of direct marketing, can’t finance adverts in foreign countries or sell their product by internet. The most important thing is that agro touristic product should be cheap. The main motivation of village tourism is to rest cheaply with less comfort but in ecologically clean and pleasant environment.

19. We think it is advisable: • to collaborate with conservation and development projects financed by international or local donors; • to identify ecotourism development national priority regions and their definitions; • to employ local residents and identify income mechanism in agro tourism sector.

20. Thus, mountainous regions have a good chance to develop almost all directions of tourism exceptionally profitable is the development of mountainous- skiing and agro tourism in such regions as Samtskhe-Javakheti and south –west Turkey. • A good perspective is establishing a joint touristic net by the youth of the Union of Caucasus universities of Big Silk Road Countries. They will exchange information of their regions about tourist potential.

21. I think it will be good if we make short term professional courses (manager’s , guide’s, tour operator’s ) envisaging international demands alongside with curricular subjects at the university. • On the whole this will support: • future generation to be close to each other; • neighbouring countries to introduce their culture and traditions to each other; • improve residents’ (living in mountainous regions) social-economical conditions. • At Last it is their recent aim

22. Thank You So Much 106, str. Rustaveli, Akhaltsikhe, Georgia tel: 8 (265) 2 19 90, fax: 8(265) 400 191 rector@akhaltsikhe.edu.ge www.akhaltsikhe.edu.ge