Seaside, slopes, and sanatoriums – Georgia’s regional tourism gets a boost

As Georgia continues to benefit from a post-Covid tourism boom and high value travelers increasingly flock to the country, its regional tourism industry is gaining increased interest and investments. Investor.ge takes a look at the latest developments and how a USAID project is working to help raise the sector’s service standards.

Georgia’s tourism sector has been the subject of much international chatter as of late. It hosted the world’s largest tourism trade fair, ITB Berlin, putting 80 Georgian companies from the industry in front of an audience of 90,000 attendees from more than 180 countries. On top of that, it also held a skiing world championship – and those are just in March alone.

This push for wider recognition abroad comes on the back of an impressive post-pandemic recovery of the sector. Data from the Georgian National Tourism Administration (GNTA) shows that tourism revenue in the country reached $3.5 billion in 2022, a 107% increase compared to 2019. And with higher revenue has also come new tourism trends for the country. Travelers to Georgia in 2022, on average, spent more and stayed longer than visitors before the pandemic, GNTA statistics show.

But as guests increasingly flock to the country for longer, higher value stays, they are also seeking out sights beyond Tbilisi’s old town. With only one-third of total international visits to the country in 2022 to Tbilisi, Georgia’s regional tourism industry is seeing increased interest – and investments.

From the seaside…

Coming in as the second most visited region in Georgia in 2022 with 39% of all international visits, Adjara was aptly described by a 2022 Euronews article as “the Black Sea region where beaches and snowy peaks collide.”

With its wide-ranging offers of natural attractions – among them, its Colchic Rainforests and Wetlands recently named as UNESCO World Heritage sites – the region is now marketing itself as more than its former designation as a seaside spot – but also as an ‘adventure tourism’ destination.

Headlining the launch of an exhibit dedicated to adventure tourism at the ITB Berlin fair in March, head of the regional government of Adjara Tornike Rizhvadze noted that a budget of $6 million had been allocated for tourism in the region in 2023, with “a number of projects and programs” already in the works to build tourist infrastructures this year. Among those recently completed are the construction of a 1,750-meter zipline, dubbed “the longest in Europe,” in the Shuakhevi municipality; newly unveiled hiking trails and canyoning attractions in Kapnistavi, and the development of hiking trails near the popular tourist destination of Khikhani Fortress.

In Batumi, which was named the world’s “leading emerging destination” at the World Travel Awards in October 2022, plans to create an artificial palm-shaped island featuring hotels, recreational areas, shopping, and restaurants off the coast of the city were announced in 2021. The estimated $100 million investment in the Dubai-like Ambassadori Batumi Island project, labeled “the largest investment in the region” by the Georgian prime minister at its groundbreaking ceremony in the fall of 2022, is expected to take between 7-10 years to complete.

In addition to its seaside attractions, the local government is also investing heavily in garnering greater international attention through sporting events. One investment that seems to have paid off is the $30 million development of the new Adjarabet Arena football stadium in the city, completed in 2020, which is set to co-host the 2023 European U21 Football Championship.

To the slopes…

Seemingly unknown to the wider world only a decade ago, Georgia’s ski towns have been the subject of increased international attention in recent years as efforts to improve infrastructure and attract international sporting competitions have helped put them on the map.

The town of Bakuriani, located in Samtskhe-Javakheti, has gained the lion share of that recognition lately after it successfully hosted the Freestyle Ski, Snowboard, and Freeski World Championships in February and March of this year. The event brought around 700 athletes from 42 countries to compete in 30 categories between February 19 and March 5, with the Secretary General of the International Ski Federation (FIS) Michel Vion praising the championships as having a “very good outcome,” adding that Georgia has “everything” needed to become a winter sports destination.

In preparation for the event, Bakuriani received some much-needed upgrades to its infrastructure, including three new cable cars, a new 30-km snowmaking system, and six additional new tracks, all completed within a ₾270 million (about $101 million) project. And those improvements seem to still be paying off. Another announcement in March formalized the city’s position as host of the European Youth Olympic Festival, which has it set to welcome thousands of the best young winter sport competitors to the Georgian resort town in 2025.

Georgia’s other well-known winter resort town of Guduari in the northern Mtskheta-Mtianeti region is also in line for some important infrastructural improvements. In addition to news of technical updates to the ski facilities announced in December 2022, which include plans to build a new ropeway at the ski resort and install snowmaking machines on an additional two tracks, the city is also set to have its water system overhauled. With demand growing as the ski town becomes increasingly popular among Georgian and international holiday-goers alike, $8.5 million has been allocated by the government to ensure a continuous water supply by the start of the ski season in 2025.

…and sanatoriums

Abastumani is a small but renowned former spa resort town located in Georgia’s Samstkhe-Javekheti region. The town, which is located less than 100 kilometers south of Kutaisi, has a rich history that rivals the vibrant (and recently restored) facades of the wooden houses lining its main street. First put on the map in the 1890s when the younger brother of the last Russian tsar was sent there to soak up the healing powers of its hot springs against a tuberculosis diagnosis, the town maintained its popularity throughout the Soviet era before falling into an unfortunate state of disrepair in the 1990s.

Notable among the recent major investments in the town is the $14.5 million joint venture of the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) and Adjara Group to develop Rooms Hotel Abastumani. Slated to begin welcoming guests in 2024 on the 100th anniversary of its initial opening, the project envisages the revitalization of the historic Arazindo sanatorium into a health and wellness-centered hotel.

This, in addition to the $69 million construction of a four-star Autograph Collection hotel set to open later this year, as well as road and sewer modernization projects, the construction of a new Bagdati-Abastumani road (expected to open this year), and a 10 million GEL rehabilitation project of the town’s nearly 100-year-old astrophysical observatory have all given hope that the spa town will soon return to its former glory.

Much like the rejuvenating qualities once touted at its many balneological resorts, Tskaltubo in Georgia’s western Imereti region is too getting a fresh breath of life, according to government officials who unveiled major development plans for the former resort town in the summer of 2022.

The project, appropriately dubbed “New Life for Tskaltubo,” aims to restore the favored former Soviet sanatoriums into a modern spa resort destination. In July of last year, the government announced that that town, which is located just seven kilometers outside of Kutaisi, was expected to receive an estimated 500 million GEL ($170 million) in private investment as well as “tens of millions of GEL” from the government to make it “a modern, European-level, world-class spa resort” similar to the likes of Baden-Baden in Germany and Karlovy Vary in the Czech Republic.

In addition to the unveiling of the new development program in July, the government also announced the auction of 14 sanatoriums at an estimated value of 50 million GEL. While the project is still in its early stages, several sanatoriums have already been sold, the latest being to Qatari investment group Golden Tower, which plans to build several hotels and spa facilities in the area.

Setting the standards

As Georgia’s tourism sector continues to diversify and expand, so too must the standards of service that it offers. With this in mind, AmCham launched the Best Practices and International Standards to Hospitality Industry Initiative in 2022 with the support of the USAID Economic Security Program. The project, implemented in partnership with its hotel partners Silk Hospitality, the Sheraton Grand Tbilisi Metechi Palace, and GMT Group, aims to reinvigorate Georgia’s hospitality workforce through a skills training program.

Beyond the training program, the project is also focusing its efforts on promoting higher standards of service in Georgia’s regional hotels. In March 2023, it launched the first of six workshops aimed at bringing together hotels from around Georgia to share experiences and best practices on topics such as hygiene, food safety, food waste management, energy efficiency, and supply management. Led by practitioners from Georgia’s international brand hotels, these workshops offer both regional hotel representatives and local VET colleges the ability to learn about and train in international hospitality standards.

“Post-pandemic, we see new trends for tourists visiting the country,” noted USAID Economic Security Program Chief of Party Mark McCord, speaking about the project at the November graduation ceremony of its first cohort of trainees. “High value tourists are increasingly coming to Georgia who are willing to spend money, but they expect a high standard of service,” he added. “Raising that level of service and, most importantly, making sure it is consistent throughout the industry will be key to the sector’s growth and success.”

This article was written with the support of the USAID Economic Security Program.