Wednesday, April 29, 2015

French Compagnie de Vichy to invest in Georgian spa resort of Tskaltubo

28.04.2015. The French Compagnie de Vichy, owner of the Vichy Spa Hotel Les Celestins, expressed interest in Tskaltubo Spa Resort project - Prime Minister said in  Tskaltubo where he familiarized with  Cold Lake infrastructure.

According to Irakli Garibashvili, Tskaltubo is a unique, internationally recognized resort and the government has developed a  long-term resort development plan.

According to him, investor interest in Tskaltubo is growing every day.

Prime Minister instructed the  Partnership Fund (PF) to study  the prospects of Tskaltubo development  and announced expression of interest for a number of investment projects.

The government's press service reports that in the frames of  the  Tskaltubo rehabilitation project, small-size buildings were  built in the area of Cold Lake as well as   the irrigation system  was arranged, green cover was updated and cleaned on the territory of the central park and Cold Lake.


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Friday, April 24, 2015

Let tourists arrive and Georgia thrive!

24.04.2015. The contribution of tourism to world gross domestic product (GDP) is just 3%, and the economies of countries where tourism accounts for a big share of the GDP often perform poorly. The most notorious case is Greece, where in 2011 tourism generated 18% of GDP ($15 billion dollars in absolute terms), and whose economy is, as everyone knows, totally on the skids. Another example is Spain – while being struck disastrously by the European economic crisis, the country can boast the second highest tourism revenues in the world, amounting to $60.4 billion dollars in 2013 (or about 6% of Spanish GDP).

Even if one disregards that tourism-centered economies are often weak, the absolute size of the tourism contributions are not that impressive. Economists typically talk about billions of dollars, sometimes about trillions, like astronomers talk about light years – so what the heck is so exciting about $60.4 billion? In 2012, the Spanish telecommunications provider Telefonica, one single company, generated revenues of about $85 billion, almost $25 billion more than Spain’s entire tourism sector. And this turnover was generated with just 275,000 employees, whereas 2 million Spaniards are working in tourism. Interpreting these numbers is hazy, because we do not know what value is added by the Telefonica personnel (portions of the revenues, both in tourism and in telecommunications, account for preliminary products), but there can be no doubt that production (and hence average incomes) in telecommunications are much higher than in tourism.

Thursday, April 23, 2015

Greek low-cost airline Ellinair announces Georgia flights

23.04.2015. New flights from Georgia to some of the world’s most exotic destinations are ahead as more airline companies pledge to enter the Georgian aviation market.

Several low-cost airlines recently announced to begin flights into and out of Georgia; first Pegasus Airlines of Turkey and today Ellinair of Greece.

The Greek low-cost airline said it would begin flights to Georgia from June 8, allowing passengers to use the Georgia-Greece route once per week.

Ellinair, based at Macedonia International Airport, addressed Georgia’s Civil Aviation Agency on April 7, 2015 and asked permission to launch direct flights between Georgia and Greece.

Meanwhile, after the winter season break, Israel’s Israir Airlines has returned to the Georgian air market. The company’s first flight this summer season was performed on April 2 between Tbilisi and Tel Aviv, Israel. The arriving flight to Georgia, an A320 aircraft, brought 174 passengers to Tbilisi – all of whom were tourists, announced Georgia’s Ministry of Economy.

London fair showcases traditional Georgian food, wine

22.04.2015. Londoners interested in tasting food from foreign lands are invited to attend a special fair in central London this weekend.

The Duke of York Square Saturday Market is hosting an event called Taste Georgia on Saturday, which will offer Georgian national wine, traditional meals such askhinkali, khachapuri and bread baked in a circular clay oven called tone.

"Go along and learn more about unique Georgian food and wine and taste some of the traditional Georgian dishes in pop-up restaurants,” said the British Embassy in Tbilisi in a statement.

Taste Georgia will start at 10am and continue until 6pm. The event is being organised by Enterprise Georgia in cooperation with the British Georgian Chamber of Commerce, Georgia’s Embassy to the United Kingdom and the British Embassy in Tbilisi.

As well as tasting Georgian food and wine, visitors will also be able to talk with Georgia’s British population and learn more about the ancient country and culture.


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Monday, April 13, 2015

“Unsung corner of the planet”: Georgia in National Geographic's list of best tours

13.04.2015. The National Geographic published list of Best Tours in Europe in its Traveler Magazine's 2015 Tours of a Lifetime. Along with Italy, France, Croatia, Switzerland, Scotland, and others, the list also includes Georgia - particularly Alaverdi, Kakheti region.

"Monks at the ancient Alaverdi Monastery still ferment wine the way their order has for a millennium, in earthenware vessels buried in the ground. Taste the fruits of their labor on a culinary odyssey led by Max Johnson, the travel outfitter’s founder, whose passion for this unsung corner of the planet is contagious", - the article in The National Geographic reads.

Georgian Economy minister, Giorgi Kvirikashvili discussed this news with the media. “I want to share some very good news with you... The decision to include Georgia into the top tourism destinations has already been made by the National Geographic Traveler and in my opinion this will help Georgia to develop its tourism industry and to improve the country’s image among world travellers.”

National Geographic Traveler is a magazine that launched in 1984 by the National Geographic Society in the United States. It is one of the most popular travel media in the world and is published in 20 countries in ten languages.

Sunday, April 12, 2015

Hilton: Georgia needs a 5-year tourism development plan

Interview with Stuart Nelson, General Manager at Hilton Batumi

What are your expectations after the opening of the “Hilton“  hotel  in Batumi ? What are your plans in this regard?

I would be happy to say that after the opening of the hotel will be able to rest, but alas, it will not work – we will continue to develop, conduct training, correct any flaws with one main purpose – to meet the needs of our guests, and even exceed them.

Batumi and  Georgia as a whole  is a very good new market for “Hilton”. In Georgia, there are a lot of very positive and interesting traditions – hospitality, wine, delicious cuisine, so we will do everything in order to develop them, so that a new and exciting time awaits us.

We have a lot of plans, but still I cannot talk about them in detail. For example, we intend to open a Georgian restaurant, the products for which we’ll  buy from local farmers.

And it is  just the beginning.

Sunday, April 5, 2015

Wizz Air in-flight magazine features Georgian wine

05.04.2015 (Hvino News). WIZZ is the in-flight magazine published by Hungarian airline Wizz Air. In its recent issues WIZZ Magazine published articles related to Georgia: "Georgia: Here Wine Lives" (in February's issue) and "Georgia is on our minds" (in April's issue).

The article on Georgian wine by Sarah May Grunwald reads: "It's at the Georgian table that travelers truly experience Georgian culture. It's the link they share today with their Neolithic ancestors. Drinking Georgian wine is remembering our collective past".

The article, marked as promotion, is important for reaching to the passengers of Wizz Air - the largest low-cost airline in Central and Eastern Europe. Readership of its in-flight magazine is assessed as up to 2.8 million readers, for every issue. WIZZ Magazine is placed onboard flights to more than 96 destinations on more than 300 routes.

Wizz Air serves several flights connecting Georgia's Kutaisi airport with East European cities, including Budapest, Vilnius, and Kiev.

© Hvino News

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