TOURISM IN GEORGIA An Unexploited Opportunity for Economic Development
by Paul B. Henze
Georgia is Lagging Badly: Georgia lags behind all the other parts of the exSoviet Union in exploiting its potential for development of tourism. The Baltic states, Armenia and the Central Asian countries are far ahead of Georgia in this respect. So is Russia. Georgia nevertheless has a more concentrated potential for development of tourism than any other ex-Soviet country. Georgia hosted only 10,000 foreign tourists in 2004. Its neighbor Turkey expects to attract 17 million! If only 1% of these had crossed the border into Georgia, the country would have had 170,000 visitors, gained significant foreign exchange, attracted a host of new friends and gained understanding for its problems. Even the most elementary calculation suggests that Georgia's GDP would grow significantly, perhaps even exponentially, if tourism could be kicked into high gear. Yet it is unlikely that the Government of Georgia has ever commissioned a serious cost/benefit analysis of this critical economic sector. Georgia's failure to capitalize on its tourism potential is a tragedy. But the situation is remediable. Measures to correct it are urgent.
Georgia's Advantages: Georgia has more intrinsic advantages for development of tourism than any other ex-Soviet country. It has a good climate, with terrain ranging from subtropical to Alpine. It has varied topography in a comparatively small space. It has a unique combination of archaeological and historical sites. It is one of the world's most ancient Christian countries with a rich ecclesiastical culture which is still flourishing. It has a tradition of civilized life: art, literature, drama, music, beautiful handicrafts. It has a varied and broadly appealing cuisine and vineyards that produce an endless variety of high-quality wines.
Above all Georgia has a cultured, literate, friendly population. Georgians have maintained strong traditions of hospitality through the centuries. Georgians welcome visitors and know how to make them feel comfortable. They welcome
foreigners' interest in their country and are eager to explain their history and culture. Yet despite the warmth and welcoming instincts of the Georgian people, the attitude of the Georgian government to date has been distinguished by a diffident attitude toward tourism, almost as if it expects tourists to flock to Georgia because of its superior culture, archeology, wine, etc. This "they will all want to come here" attitude is a non-starter in today's world, and a death sentence for tourism in Georgia, which is little known outside of a circle of dedicated cognoscenti.
Advantages to Georgia: Tourism is a foreign-exchange earner. Georgia's Mediterranean neighbors to the west, from Spain and Portugal all the way to Turkey, have long been gaining a major share of their income from tourism. Tourism development brings good returns to both domestic and foreign investors. It brings many other economic and social advantages. Facilities and industries serving tourists are non-polluting and do not strain a country's infrastructure. They contribute to economic development and prosperity in numerous ways. Improvements required to facilitate tourism--better roads, dependable power, good communications, a range of good restaurants and hotels, efficient food and beverage industries--benefit the society as a whole. Tourism generates employment on a broad basis. It requires trained service personnel, hotel managers, good transportation facilities, guides and tour leaders. Tourism generates incentives and opportunities for producers of handicrafts, clothing, guidebooks, art and jewelry to market their production. Artists in most countries thrive on tourismC-indeed, most survive because of it. Few things are more powerful in public relations efforts than artists who are known and recognized internationally.
Tourism also serves a valuable public relations purpose. Satisfied tourists bring more tourists. If they have good experiences and leave impressed, they generate sympathy and understanding for the country when they go home. So far Georgia has largely failed to gain these advantages.
Tourism plays an important political role for countries like Georgia that are usually supported, sometimes substantially, by foreign aid directly from friendly governments. In foreign aid-providing countries parliaments decide where the money goes among many worthy candidates. Those who vote aid for Georgia will find less opposition if a strong body of support exists for Georgia in a donor country's population. Tourism can provide this kind of basis for support. That
the Georgian government has not recognized this glaring reality is further evidence of its failure to understand how and where tourism should fit into its investment priorities.
Tourism should not be thought of as an activity involving only enticing foreigners to visit. Domestic tourism is also desirable and beneficial in many ways.
The Soviet Legacy: Like everything else, the Soviet system confined tourism to development by state enterprises. Georgia was a favorite destination for Soviet-style tourism, both as a vacation site for the Soviet elite and for "trade union" and other kinds of group tourism of the kind that Soviet leaders felt they could tolerate and control.1[1] The Soviet legacy is a disadvantage to Georgia now. It has left the country with huge factory-like hotels along the Black Sea shore that have little appeal for European and American tourists. Russian-style turbazy ("touring bases") at choice sites such as Vardzia are dilapidated wrecks. The Soviet system did not favor--or, indeed, even permit--the kind of tourism development that appeals to Westerners or people from other affluent countries, such as Australia, Japan and many Middle Eastern countries. These are all natural sources of tourists for Georgia. Such people, if large hotels appeal to them, expect them to operate according to high international standards with attention to individual tastes and needs. They expect a wide range of appealing private restaurants at many price levels. In provincial cities and in the countryside they like to find small, friendly hotels and some prefer bed-and-breakfast arrangements in private homes. They want varied opportunities for shopping, exploring, trekking, mountain-climbing, sojourns with families in the countryside and student travel.
Guided tours for groups and individuals still have a place in Georgian tourism, but the practice needs to be very different from Soviet times, when foreign tour groups were shadowed by the KGB, regimented, lectured at and prevented from having contact with the population. Travel operators who are now offering tour
1[1]Georgia has as many as 5 million tourists some years during Soviet times, only a very small percentage of them foreigners. The Georgian economy gained little direct advantage from this tourism, given the nature of the Soviet system.
services in Georgia, such as Caucasus Travel, understand the need for a new approach and are applying it.
Georgia would be unwise to aim for mass tourism: The country's attractions can best be exploited for their appeal to individuals and small groups. Georgia can readily attract tourists who have already visited other countries and wish to experience a new and somewhat exotic area. Most tourists will know little about Georgian history and culture but many will want to learn. They should be helped to do so. Roger Rosen's excellent guidebook of should be widely available in shops and hotels, in both Georgia and in surrounding countries.2[2] It can help Georgia attract intelligent, educated tourists who wish to experience its culture and the warmth of its people. Such tourists will appreciate the great historical, archaeological and religious traditions and treasures Georgia has to offer them. The banks of slot machines and gambling tables that were set up in hotels in Kobuleti during the Soviet period are of little benefit to Georgia now and create an unfortunate image of the country. Georgia has too many positive characteristics to waste its energy and reputation permitting widespread casino gambling and the negative manifestations that accompany it.
The Role of Government: Tourism should neither be managed nor controlled by the government. The central government's involvement in tourism should be confined to:
C implementation of a simplified visa system. C establishment of a system for ensuring standards in the tourism industry and enforcement of these standards. C tourism promotion. C provision of incentives for tourism development.
2[2]On recent visits I have not seen it for sale anywhere in Georgia! Classics of Georgian history and travel are almost impossible to find. Expanding tourism will create a good market for reprints.
Let us discuss each of these topics in detail:
Visa Regulations: Visas can now be obtained readily at Georgian diplomatic establishments abroad, but they are difficult for tourists to get where embassies and consulates do not exist. Visas should be granted readily at a reasonable price at borders and airports, as they now are at the Tbilisi Airport.
Standards and Enforcement: An important function of the national tourism commission (or other agency designated by the government) should be a system for approving and rating tour agencies, hotels and restaurants, and licensing guides to ensure fairness and quality. Ratings and licenses should be reviewed annually. They should be posted in facilities serving tourists. The system will be of benefit to the local population as well as foreign visitors. It should be administered in such a way as to avoid pay-offs and bribes.
Tourism Promotion: The central government as well as city and regional governments should allocate resources to encourage publication of posters, maps, brochures, guidebooks, and especially low-cost video tapes and DVDs that will be readily available to tourists. The actual work can best be left to the private sector; governments should be concerned only with accuracy and quality. Such materials should be provided to embassies and consulates for distribution as well as to local authorities in Georgia. Reasonable distinctions can be made between materials provided free and those sold. The government should not attempt to maintain a monopoly over tourist promotion, but should encourage tour operators, the church, civic groups and local authorities to take initiative.
Government Incentives for Tourism Development:
In the early stages of tourism development the government should take initiative to encourage construction and expansion of tourist facilities, establishment of tour agencies, and training of personnel to service the tourism industry. Investment in tourism development must be carefully planned and
managed to avoid waste or diversion of resources. It should also be undertaken with oversight that ensures continued maintenance and good performance. There is a great deal of experience in the world in tourism development. Many countries have incentive programs. Georgia can draw on the best of this experience. It should avoid a common problem in this field: putting the cart ahead of the horse--engaging in promotion while neglecting quality of performance. Efforts to advertise the country's attractions should be paralleled by efforts to create conditions which ensure that tourists' experiences are positive.
To encourage tourism local authorities need to make it easy for tourists to visit their areas. Tourist attractions, archaeological sites, churches, castles, great houses, wineries and significant architectural monuments need good access roads, parking lots and trails. Good planning would group these attractions in "clusters" that deliver the most intense tourism experience for the least inconvenience in time, travel and expense. Direction signs with simple map diagrams should point to places of interest. When tourists reach them they should find explanations of what they are seeing in English and other international languages. English, distinguished by proper spelling, grammar and syntax, will immediately impress tourists with the seriousness of the effort.3[3]
First-class sites in Georgia such as Uplistsikhe, Vardzia and David Garedja are unnecessarily difficult to reach and visit. While Tbilisi is relatively well provided with hotels and restaurants, many of its monuments lack plaques which explain their history. Most of Georgia's provincial centers are difficult for tourists to visit and lack elementary facilities. Telavi has no hotels or restaurants of even minimal quality for visitors. Tourists have no place to stay in Kutaisi and few places to eat. No signs lead visitors to the famous churches in and around Kutaisi: Bagrati, Gelati and others. Even in Tbilisi museums are shabby, dark and poorly provided with explanatory labels on exhibits. Provincial museums have all these problems and are often closed. The central government cannot be responsible for all the improvements that are needed, but it should offer encouragement and incentives to local governments to make them.
3[3]But note this irony: as Russian declines as the second language of Georgia, it is not being replaced automatically by English on signs, building designations or even menus. This results in yet another obstacle for many experienced tourists who speak Russian and English but not Georgian. Even for them, Georgia's cities and historical sites are becoming more difficult to explore and understand, not easier.
Examples for Georgia to Study and Learn from: Georgia needs to go no farther than across its border with Turkey to see how tourism can be developed. Thirty years ago Turkey hosted a couple of hundred thousand tourists per year. Government incentive programs for development of tourist facilities were poorly administered and often resulted in wasted investment. People took subsidies to build motels and lodges but failed to maintain them or operate them properly. Turkey realized that private initiative is most appropriate for development and management of tourist facilities. Turkey learned too that sites of tourist interest need to be made easy to visit: good roads, trails, signs, campgrounds and picnic tables along highways. Turks learned that good tourist services require training of personnel to serve tourists, encouraging citizens to learn languages and educating guides. High schools, vocational colleges, even Turkish universities offer courses in skills that serve the tourism industry. The result has a literal explosion of tourism in Turkey in the past two decades to the point where it is a major component of the country's economy. Tourists who come constitute a body of friends throughout the world.
Not only can Georgia learn from its neighbor Turkey, it can cooperate with Turkey, for many tourists who come to Turkey are interested in crossing its eastern border into the Caucasus. A few do, and a few Turkish tour operators have started to make convenient arrangements for their clients. It has not been easy but the possibilities are almost limitless. They include, to start with, not only travel by car or bus to Batumi, but cruises from Turkish ports along the Georgian coast with visits to Batumi, Poti and more distant sites such as Vardzia, Vani and the highlands of Ajaria. Many tourists who come from Turkey are also interested in going into the interior of Georgia.
Turkey is, of course, not the only country from which Georgians can learn more about modern tourism. Greece, Italy and Spain have enormous experience in profiting from tourism. The same is true of countries such as Slovenia and Croatia who now gain income from their ports and islands along the Adriatic coast.
Georgia's Mountains: In the late 19th and early 20th centuries Europeans were attracted to the mountains of the Caucasus in much the same way that they had earlier become attracted to the Alps. Interest in the Alps took many forms:
serious climbers, trekkers, vacationers who preferred to look at the mountains rather than climb them, people who simply wanted to breathe fresh air, observe the life of people living in the mountains and learn about their customs and handicrafts. A small number of European (and even a few American) climbers and trekkers visited the mountains of the Caucasus before World War I and wrote books about them. It was a tragedy that the advance of the Red Army into independent Georgia and the imposition of communism made the Caucasus as remote for visitors from the outside world as Antarctica or Greenland. After World War II the Himalayas--India, Nepal, Ladakh, Hunza--became popular destinations for adventuresome Europeans, Americans, Australians and Japanese and have remained so. Until 1991 the Caucasus remained terra incognita. Not much has happened since because the region to the north of Georgia has been wracked by disorder and violence. A few parts of Georgia are inaccessible too, but most of Georgia's mountain valleys are open and of great potential interest to visitors. With restoration of relatively peaceful conditions, the Caucasus could rival the Alps as a destination for tourists, for Europe is close!
But even under present conditions Georgia's mountain areas are far more difficult to visit than they need to be. They represent an enormous asset for tourism, not only because of their natural features, but because of their history and culture. The mountain valleys from Svaneti to the Georgian Military Highway are safe but difficult to visit. They offer many attractions including the potential for skiing and winter sports, but they lack hotels and restaurants with the exception of the modern resort hotel at Gudauri. Farther east, Khevsureti, with the dramatic fortified site of Shatili, and Tusheti are even more difficult to reach over land, but have unique features of great tourist interest but nothing in the way of facilities to accommodate visitors who might manage to come. The most effective way of getting there is by helicopter, which few can afford. The remaining inhabitants of these regions would benefit from the development of tourism, for they need means of earning a living. Otherwise they drift southward and the mountain valleys suffer depopulation.
Several other mountain areas in Georgia have a potential for tourism development: The Surami range, the mountains of Ajaria, mountain areas in Javakheti. Among these only Bakuriani has been developed as a winter sports center but it is not up to international standards. In similar terrain in Austria and Switzerland, northern Italy, Southern Germany and in the French Alps, even in Slovenia, every valley has lodges, restaurants and trekking trails and countless ski-lifts and cable cars have been built during recent decades. Georgia has an immense unexploited potential to do the same.
Possibilities and Priorities: Georgia has so much potential that it is difficult to recommend priorities for development. Georgia should try to do some of the easiest things first to attract tourists, acquaint them with the country and its culture, and send them away as friends of the country who will encourage others to come. Provincial cities and regions should be encouraged to assess their tourism potential. Ajaria, e.g., has obvious possibilities. Batumi alone is appealing to foreign tourists who come to visit the sites of northeastern Turkey, including the great monuments of medieval Georgian civilization which Turkey has made accessible. People of Georgian-origin living in northeastern Turkey are interested in coming across the border to see the Georgian side. A few simple measures could make it easy for them to visit. Expansion of facilities in Batumi (a process which is beginning) can lay the basis for a tourist industry in Ajaria. The Roman fortified camp at Gonio/Apsara is a first-class archaeological site. Batumi is a charming late 19th-century city with the basis for a lively cultural life. The great botanical garden above Zelyony Mys, cleaned up and improved, can appeal to nature-lovers. The Black Sea coast offers opportunities for bathing, deep-sea fishing, sailing and water sports.
While it is urgent for Georgia to make immediate efforts to attract tourists and give them a good experience, the Georgian entrepreneurs should considering major projects which, with reasonable incentives, could attract serious foreign investment:
C Rock-church and monastery sites such as David Garedja, Uplistsikhe and Vardzia could be developed to have as much appeal as Cappadocia in Turkey. Georgian entrepreneurs would be well advised to make a short trip to central Turkey to study the Cappadocia Lodge or the Kaya Hotel near Nevsehir as an examples of imaginative development of tourist facilities that could be duplicated in Georgia.
C The old walled town Sighnaki in Kakheti could be rehabilitated and turned into a gem that would attract tens of thousands of visitors every year. It was a major medieval trading center. Its location on the escarpment overlooking the Alazani valley is dramatic. Nearby is Bodbe with its church that contains the tomb of Saint Nino, the gentle Christian girl who came from Cappadocia to convert Georgia in the 4th century. Sighnaki
combines a series of unique attractions that could make it as interesting as Carcasonne in France or several of the Italian hill towns. But when I was last in Sighnaki I could find no place to stay and nowhere to get a simple luncheon! Georgia is missing a great opportunity.
C At Dmanisi in southern Kartli, world-famous archeological discoveries have recently been made and widely publicized. Here the oldest examples of homo erectus outside Africa have been found. Excavations are continuing. A large trading city existed here in the late Middle Ages on the route to Armenia and the south. A beautiful early church is well preserved and near it stands a fortress. On the way to Dmanisi from Tbilisi the highway passes through Bolnisi, site of a 4th-century church, said to be the oldest still in use in Georgia. Not far to the west of highway by which one comes from Tbilisi is a spectacular castle whose history I have never been able to discover. At nearby Sulhan-Saba a museum is devoted to the accomplishments of the Orbeliani family. The whole region could be a center of tourist attraction, not only for foreigners but for Georgians too. When I visited it a few years ago, I found no accommodations or restaurants anywhere.
C Another long-known famous archaeological site, Vani, in Imereti, is even more difficult to reach by passable roads. I spent a hard day finding my way to it. Vani was the center of Colchian civilization and the colorful legends of the Golden Fleece, Jason, Medea and other semi-mythological personalities. Georgia's most famous archaeologist, the late Otar Lordkipanidze, devoted much of his life to exploring it. It has a rather downtrodden museum, but nothing else.
C Georgia has at least a dozen mountain valleys which could be developed as attractively as those of the Alps. Development would benefit the population and the economy and encourage preservation of Georgia's unique mountain cultures. These valleys would provide recreational opportunities for Georgians and visitors at all seasons.
The sites listed above are only a few of those I have visited. There are many more, among them Mtskheta, Tsinandali, Shatili, Ushguli and Mestia, Kazbegi. There are no doubt others that have not yet been "discovered".4[4]
What is to be Done? Certainly more than has been done since Georgia became independent. The new government resulting from the Rose Revolution appointed one of Georgia's few successful tourism pioneers, Saba Kiknadze (founder of Caucasus Travel), Tourism Commissioner a few months ago. He is well qualified for the job but the Commission he heads is housed in a shabby building at the north end of Tbilisi. He has a limited staff and a budget of merely $30,000 a year. His office is attached as an afterthought to another ministry, and Kiknadze himself carries only the title of Director, not Deputy Minister or even something more impressive. This, in itself, symbolizes the failure of the government to develop the country's tourism potential. Neither money alone nor a large government bureaucracy is the recipe for generating momentum in tourism. A modest, realistic budget would nevertheless be evidence of that the government is serious about realizing the benefits that tourism can generate for Georgia.
Let us consider what has been happening in a distant country also recovering from communism which has many similarities to Georgia--both positive and negative: Ethiopia. I happen to be very familiar with it. It too is one of the oldest Christian countries in the world. It has a rich civilization and colorful history. It is blessed with spectacular and varied geography. The most ancient skeletons of human beings have been found there. It is has unique architectural monuments and hundreds of still functioning early Christian churches, just like Georgia. It has important Muslim and Jewish minorities too. And it, too, is located in an unstable region and has border problems and difficult neighbors, like Georgia. Finally it is more difficult and more expensive for foreigners to travel to Ethiopia than it is to Georgia. Nevertheless Ethiopia attracted 181,000 foreign tourists in 2003 and is expecting a 20% increase in 2004: twenty times more than Georgia!
4[4]I have omitted discussion of Tbilisi, where many constructive developments have occurred, though further improvements are needed. The imaginative open-air house museum below Ustba is in deplorably run-down condition, for example. I have also left out regions currently outside control of the Georgian government: Abkhazia and South Ossetia. They have tourist attractions from which they and the whole country would benefit with restoration of normality.
If Ethiopia can do it, certainly Georgia should be able to. Georgia's failure to develop its tourism potential is embarrassing to those of us who are trying to help Georgia consolidate its independence and make permanent improvements in the life of its people. Remedying this situation should be one of the present government's key priorities.
Note: Paul Henze, who lives in Washington, Virginia, is Vice President of the American Georgian Business Development Council. He is a long-time student of Georgian history and culture and has traveled throughout Georgia since 1991. He visited the country most recently in October 2004.