Monday, March 30, 2015

"The New York Times": Mountains, monasteries and plenty of wine

by Genevieve Helliwell

30.03.2015. In recent edition of  The New York Times, self-described ‘Frugal Traveler’ Seth Kugel has written about his unique experience in Georgia – from his stay with a local guesthouse to sampling Georgian wine from traditional qvevri (clay pots), eating an abundance of delicious food and being taken on personal tours visiting monasteries and vineyards in Georgia’s Kakheti wine region.

Published in the Travel section of The New York Times online and print editions, Kugel’s piece lovingly describes the friendliness of the Georgian people, the magnificence of ancient churches and the affordability of his Georgian adventure – essential for any frugal traveler, he says.
My visit to Georgia was in the off-season — often a great way to save, of course. But it turns out that the ancient Christian land and former Soviet republic is an amazingly cheap place to go year-round, perfect for frugal travelers who like their bumpy bus rides to end with quality meals and private rooms. With that you get the mountain villages, historic towns, centuries-old monasteries, an intriguing cuisine and lots of good, affordable wine (often less than $10 for a decent bottle on restaurant menus).”
Source

    Georgian Wine Catalogue      
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Friday, March 20, 2015

"Travel Weekly": Drinking in Georgia's rustic charms

by Felicity Long

20.03.2015. You would never have known it was 3 a.m. in Georgia's Tbilisi Airport when our Lufthansa plane landed. Flights were arriving and departing, passport control was packed and the airport was brightly lit.

In fact, most air service in and out of Georgia takes place in the middle of the night, and locals are clearly used to these arrivals, for, like the airport, the Holiday Inn Tbilisi was fully staffed and busy when I checked in.

Admittedly, these quirky arrival times, along with a few other drawbacks we encountered in the days to follow such as long stretches of roads without basic amenities and an unsophisticated tourism infrastructure, could be an issue for the casual or inexperienced Europe visitor.

For the right traveler, however, these inconveniences are minor in return for what Georgia has to offer: ancient castles and churches as beautiful as anything in Italy and France, but without the crowds; a wine culture of increasing international renown; a stellar cuisine; and a warm reception from locals, who seem to have hospitality in their DNA.

"We know this is an unusual trip," said Max Johnson, founder and head of product development for the Great Canadian Travel Co., which, together with the Georgian National Tourism Administration and Living Roots, an inbound travel company, arranged the itinerary.

"We know travel agents may have only one or two clients who are looking for new, interesting programs like this, and we focus on them," he said.

Wine culture

The biggest draw for most of us, and the reason Georgia is slowly making its way onto mainstream radar, is its wine, which we sampled during a prelunch wine tasting at Vino-Underground, a wine cellar in Tbilisi.

Thursday, March 19, 2015

Georgian Airways to resume flights to Saint Petersburg, Samara and Vladikavkaz

19.03.2015. Georgian Airways plans to resume direct flights to Saint Petersburg, Samara and Vladikavkaz in April-May. A related bid was sent to the Civil Aviation Agency of Georgia, TASS reports.According to preliminary information, flights to Samara will be made four times a week, to Saint Petersburg two times a week, to Vladikavkaz once a week.Georgian Airways says that flights to Saint Petersburg and Samara were of high demand in the past

Georgian Airways plans to resume direct flights to Saint Petersburg, Samara and Vladikavkaz in April-May. A related bid was sent to the Civil Aviation Agency of Georgia.

According to preliminary information, flights to Samara will be made four times a week, to Saint Petersburg two times a week, to Vladikavkaz once a week.

Georgian Airways says that flights to Saint Petersburg and Samara were in high demand in the past.

Source

    Georgian Wine Catalogue      
 To add this Search Box to your website,  click  here. Many designs are available.

Wednesday, March 18, 2015

Georgia's Mestia among "50 Unpredictable And Non-Clichéd Places To Travel To"

18.03.2015 (Hvino News). The Elite Daily website published a list of "50 Unpredictable And Non-Clichéd Places To Travel To In Your 20-s". Mestia from the mountainous region of Svaneti is one of the destinations mentioned in the Elite Daily's list.

“Mestia is an isolated town located in Northern Georgia, but it’s completely worth the visit. Drink Georgian wine, hike to a glacier, mingle with the locals and experience the epic beauty of the Caucasus mountains”, this is how the website describes the place. ....The hidden gems of the world are becoming hot spots for tourists — so all the more reason to visit these places sooner rather than later", - noted the author John Haltiwanger.

Among other "non-clichéd" places to travel, Elite Daily lists Yerevan (Armenia) and Kazan (Russia).

Elite Daily proclaims itself to be the voice of so-called Generation-Y (people born after 1980). Founded in 2012, this news website quickly reached  huge popularity of 40 million monthly unique visitors.

© Hvino News

    Georgian Wine Catalogue      
 To add this Search Box to your website,  click  here. Many designs are available.

Saturday, March 14, 2015

Georgia beckons Malaysian travellers

14.03.2015. Although Malaysians are not well aware of the tourism potential of Georgia, a former Soviet Union state, its charge d’affaires ad interim Levan Machavariani is optimistic that a slew of tourism-related programmes to be held this year will entice more Malaysians to visit the country.

He said last year, Georgia received over five million foreign visitors, more than its population of 4.5 million, but only about 700 Malaysians visited the country.

“Last year, we had a little over 700 Malaysian visitors coming to Georgia, which was actually an increase in comparison to the previous years, but I believe it can be further improved and we are working towards it,” he told in a recent interview held at the news agency’s headquarters.

To entice Malaysians to visit Georgia, which is home to over 10,000 monuments of archeology, history, architecture and art since two million years ago, the embassy has planned a number of events including taking part in the European (Europe) Cinema under the European Union National Institute for Culture (EUNIC) project and in International Cinema Festival to be held in Kota Kinabalu in June.

Friday, March 13, 2015

Georgian wine heritage presentation at Berlin travel show

13.03.2015 (Hvino News) On March 7 the Georgian wine heritage presentation was held at ITB Berlin - the world’s leading travel show. Unique qvevri wine-making method, prehistoric wine artifacts, as well as longest and unbroken wine culture facts were presented by Davit Jishkariani, member of Georgian Wine Club. The event was supported by Georgian Experience and Georgian National Travel Agency. Presentation was followed by tasting of  Alaverdi Monastery wines.

ITB visitors, wine tourism professionals as well as students from Faculty of Tourism studies at University Primorska (Slovenia) attended the event.

"Interest was quite high, especially from the tourism management students from Primorska University. Generally, we should better promote our unique wine tourism potential", - noted Davit Jishkariani.

© Hvino News

    Georgian Wine Catalogue      
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Wednesday, March 11, 2015

Georgia’s wine region twins with Egypt’s Luxor

11.03.2015. Kakheti - Georgia’s oldest region and the homeland of Georgian wine has formed a close bond with the Egyptian city of Luxor, which was once the capital of the nation.

An agreement to recognize Kakheti and Luxor as twin regions, which emphasized bilateral collaboration in tourism, cultural and agricultural sectors, was signed yesterday.

Luxor, formerly an ancient Egyptian capital, is today known as the world's greatest open-air museum. The area boasts a range of historic scenery and ancient temples including the tomb of Tutankhamun in the Valley of the Kings, the majestic temple complexes of Karnak and Luxor, and various cruises along the Nile.

The Egyptian side noted thousands of tourists from all around the world arrive annually to visit these monuments, contributing greatly to the economy of the modern city.

Meanwhile Georgia’s eastern Kakheti region is the country’s top wine-producing region.

Kakheti is also rich in history and was an independent or semi-independent kingdom for long periods. With lots of historical places and beautiful churches, castles and mansions, Kakheti is an attractive destination, said the Georgian side.

Source

    Georgian Wine Catalogue      
 To add this Search Box to your website,  click  here. Many designs are available.

Tuesday, March 10, 2015

Georgia takes action to attract more Chinese visitors

10.03.2015. Developing tourism between Georgia and China is in focus at a meeting between representatives of the two countries today.

Georgia’s Vice Prime Minister and Economy Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili, who is paying a working visit to China, met the chairman of China’s National Tourism Administration Li Jinzao earlier today.

There Kvirikashvili said Georgia wanted to create more opportunities to develop Georgia-China tourism, and to do this, the country would prepare the special offers for Chinese tourism operators.

"We will design special financial packages that will contribute to tourism development between Georgia and China. Georgia uses the same mechanisms for Kutaisi International Airport, which aims to support Wizz Air Hungary airlines flights,” Kvirikashvili said.

The sides also discussed the possibility of developing direct flights between Georgia and China.

Monday, March 2, 2015

How can Georgia improve?

by  Dimitri Shvelidze

02.03.2015. It is not news that many counties build their economy and strategy mainly on tourism. The hospitality sector plays a huge role in a country’s further development and assists in changing its essence - moving from the developing country’s ‘list’ to the developed.  Georgia’s strategy and vector is mainly correct but the country still needs improvements in many areas.

The main factor is that tourism in Georgia should be boosted in numerous ways and supported by the appropriate agencies, ministries and officials. Our country, despite being very small and suffering from territorial problems, is rich in nature and beauty: rivers, ponds, deserts, mountains, seaside and ski resorts, hills, forests, rich history and cultural heritage - that can all be actively used and must be, in fact.  Currently it seems that there is no clear strategy on where and how our country can be advertised. If such a plan exists, we are not aware of it and then it is a problem of internal communication or maybe a lack of information.  I would like to create a small list of what can be done in order to make international business travelers, investors or tourists interested in our country:

a)    Advertisement - Georgia used to have nice ads that were actively distributed in many EU countries. I consider this practice necessary to be continued, though expanding the area of distribution. Currently Georgia could be very interesting for the U.S., the central and eastern part of the EU, and our neighbors (mindful of the conflict in the north though). An international ad team can also be hired and would be proved to be a worthy investment.

Friday, February 13, 2015

Tbilisi's new boutique hotel The Terrace opens tomorrow

13.02.2015 (Hvino News). Tbilisi's new boutique hotel The Terrace opens tomorrow at 7, Polikarpe Kakabadze Street.

The hotel belongs to Maia Sidamonidze, former head of Georgia's Tourism Administration.

Thanks to prestigeous Mtatsminda hill location, hotel's guests will be able to enjoy a panoramic view of Tbilisi. The 4-star hotel has 26 rooms, a restaurant offering Georgian traditional cuisine, and a conference hall.

The project investment amounted to 1 million US dollars. Rooms rates start from US $80, and booking will begin soon.

© Hvino News

    Georgian Wine Catalogue      
 To add this Search Box to your website,  click  here. Many designs are available.

Wednesday, February 11, 2015

Flights to Spain and Germany may be performed from Kutaisi airport

11.02.2015.  (Hvino TOUR  News) In 2014, the number of passengers carried on regular and charter flights from Georgia’s four airports amounted to 2 million people. This figure has increased by 9.5% compared to 2013.

During the reporting period, the Tbilisi international airport served 1 575 million passengers. This figure has increased by 9.7% compared to 2013.

Batumi International Airport handled 213.439 passengers, which is increased by 2.15%. Mestia airport served 1 343 people, which is 51.75% more than in the previous year.

As for the Kutaisi international airport, in total 218 thousand passengers were carried on regular and charter flights that is 16% more. Georgian Commersant FM radio spoke about the Kutaisi international airport’s operation with Ketevan Aleksidze, Georgian Airports Union's director.

She says that 2014 was extremely successful for the Kutaisi international airport. Two new destinations were added - Vilnius and Budapest, as well as current directions were maintained. In total, 218 000 passengers were handled throughout the year.

Tuesday, February 10, 2015

Bulgaria simplifies tourist visa procedure for Georgians

10.02.2015. (Hvino News). Tourism and Foreign Ministers agreed to simplify tourist visa procedures for citizens of Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Armenia, and Georgia.

The measure is aimed at boosting visitor numbers from traditional markets such as the former Soviet countries, according to the press office of Bulgaria’s Tourism Ministry.

It is also part of a campaign aimed at countering the downward trend in early bookings from these countries for the 2015 summer season.

The new regime envisages the issuance of short-term double-entry and multiple-entry visas for organized trips.

This type of visa has a validity period of up to one year and is available to citizens who have already used Bulgarian visas.

© Hvino News

    Georgian Wine Catalogue      
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Wednesday, February 4, 2015

Vinotel: Wine and hotel

04.02.2015. If we say that Georgia is the cradle of wine-making, from the beginning, it should mean the considerable attempt of enlarging the wine education and promoting among consumers to obtain the right approach to the wine culture. All this will be very helpful proper to display the Georgian culture and traditions to a foreign guest.

On January 30th the list of high class wine locations was enriched with an interesting place, the Hotel Vinotel, which is located in the center of Tbilisi, at #4 Elene Akhvlediani Street. The hotel location as well as its functional design is a part of a vivid concept and a kind of guarantee for the successful business project. While having an insight into the vision of idea authors and founders, it becomes clear that this business, is rather sophisticated and firm will of popularizing the Georgian wine and the Georgian culture in general.

There is almost everything in the hotel that might give to a foreign tourist a good perspective of the authentic Tbilisi. The concept of the project aims to blend the 19th century Tbilisi spirit with the natural winemaking and slow food philosophy. Antique and handmade furniture, walls and ceiling decorated by hand try the best in creating a very comfy and natural environment.

Monday, February 2, 2015

Georgia joins world’s biggest Tourism Trade Fair

02.02.2015. Georgia’s the most significant places and uniqueness of ancient culture were displayed to millions of people at Spain’s leading Tourism Trade Show.

Ten Georgian tourism agencies were took part among more than 9 000 companies from 169 countries at the FITUR 2015, International Tourism Fair in Madrid. For Georgia it is the eighth year of participation in the exhibition.

9,107 companies and more than 200,000 visitors from around the world were presented at the World's biggest tourism fair.
Spain is one of the target markets for Georgia. To compare visitors statistics in 2013, tourist arrivals from Spain to Georgia increased by 14 percent in 2014.

Within the international tourism fair Head of Georgia’s Tourism Administration Giorgi Chogovadze met with Secretary-General of the United Nations World Tourism Organisation Taleb Rifai. At the meeting the pairs discussed cooperation issues between Georgia and the World Tourism Organisation.

"I was in Georgia three times, but even ten is not enough. At the small territories the mountains, the sea and diverse relief are gathered. But your nation is unique, everyone is ready to talk with you and treat you with great hospitality,” Taleb Rifai said.

FITUR International Tourism Trade Fair held in Madrid from January 28 to February 1.

Source

    Georgian Wine Catalogue      
 To add this Search Box to your website,  click  here. Many designs are available.

Thursday, January 29, 2015

E-visa facility launching in Georgia

29.01.2015. In a move which will give a major boost to the tourism sector, the Georgian Government will launch the electronic visa (e-visa) facility from February, 2015, announced the Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili.

This initiative is part of the strategy which the Government’s economic team set in order to maintain the long-term stability of the GEL. The measures are about encouraging export, tourism and direct foreign investments’ (FDI) inflow in Georgia.

We want to increase the number of tourists visiting our country. For this purpose electronic visas will be launched in Georgia. This will simplify the procedures of visiting Georgia for the tourists,” Garibashvili said.

Meanwhile, the Government is working on the investment project ideas which should be implemented in different regions of Georgia.

"We have already created a very attractive offer for the investors. This offer includes creating the favorable conditions for the investors in different regions of Georgia. The projects that are planned to be implemented are about building the hydro power stations, developing and promoting the local production, etc. Now we are in the process of establishing communication with the businessmen, who should be interested in investing in the regions. We will do our best to encourage the private business,” Garibashvili said.

Saturday, January 24, 2015

New program to help Georgian tourism micro-entrepreneurs

24.01.2015. A large-scale project will soon be implemented in two of Georgian regions to help poor communities and micro-entrepreneurs in tourism sector. The World Bank, as the administrator of grant funds provided by the government of Japan through the Japan Social Development Fund, and Biological Farming Association Elkana have signed today a Grant Agreement on a 2.5 million USD project - Empowering Poor Communities and Micro-entrepreneurs in Georgia Tourism Sector.

The agreement was signed by World Bank Acting Regional Director for the South Caucasus, Joseph Melitauri, and Director of Elkana, Mariam Jorjadze. This three year project will be implemented in close cooperation with the Ministry of Regional Development and Infrastructure of Georgia, the Municipal Development Fund, and the Ministry of Internally Displaced Persons from the Occupied Territories, Accommodation and Refugees of Georgia.

The overall objective of the project is to generate employment and increase household income of poor and vulnerable communities in the Kakheti and Imereti regions, where there are ongoing World Bank-financed regional development projects to support tourism development and urban regeneration. The Japanese funding will now support communities to start/grow small and micro enterprises (SMEs) in the tourism and organic food processing sectors and implement small community works in vicinity of cultural heritage sites.

Wednesday, January 14, 2015

"The New York Times": A wine revival at the foot of the Caucasus

12.01.2015. (Hvino News). The New York Times in its Travel section has published "52 Places to Go in 2015", including Georgia at 25th place, and specially mentioning several wineries and other wine-related destinations:
Georgia has all the makings of the next great wine destination: the world’s longest-running unbroken wine tradition (underground fermentation in clay vessels), hundreds of indigenous grape varieties, stunning landscapes and a band of vintners espousing natural methods. Its output has all become easier to sample, too, thanks to wine bars in the capital, Tbilisi (Konka, Vino Underground), a marked wine trail in Kakheti and wineries (Pheasant’s Tears, Iago’s Winery, Winery Khareba) serving traditional and modern Georgian cuisine. Those varietals will be feted this year at four major events: the New Wine Festival, Wine City Tbilisi at Tbilisifest, Telavino and the Tbilisi Cheese Festival...
The piece on Georgia in The New York Times is authored by Robyn Eckhardt, a freelance food writer based in Penang, China.

© Hvino News

    Georgian Wine Catalogue      
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Saturday, January 10, 2015

"The Telegraph" on Georgian wine-making

09.01.2015. Britain's The Telegraph has named Georgia as one of the most extraordinary destinations in the world.

“You might not have heard of Kakheti but you’re almost guaranteed to have enjoyed its most famous invention: wine. The Georgians have been making wine for 8,000 years and there’s recently been a revived interest in traditional wine-making techniques, with some of the country’s best wines now appearing on the wine lists at The Fat Duck, Hibiscus and Nobu.

Highlights of Kakheti include the 3,000 year old Uplistiske Rock City with its industrial-scale wine presses; the Ikalto Monastery where Orthodox priests kept meticulous viticulture records; fortified sacramental wine cellars larger than the churches they supplied; and the vineyards and wine cellars of Lagvinari, Georgia’s premier wine producer”, – the The Telegraph article says.

Source

    Georgian Wine Catalogue      
 To add this Search Box to your website,  click  here. Many designs are available.