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Scott Wayne, President of SW Associates, a Washington, DC-based international

tourism development consulting practice, was asked by the America-Georgia

Business Council to present tourism as a possible key for competitiveness in

Georgia.

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The America-Georgia Business Council and SW Associates (SWA) developed a National Tourism

Development and Investment Plan and Strategy in 2007-2008, which was being implemented until

the war with Russia started. The Strategy was funded by the US Trade and Development Agency.

The Georgia Tourism Development and Investment Strategy was driven by the vision of the

Department of Tourism and Resorts to establish the country as a uniquely Georgian, high quality

sustainable and competitive international and domestic destination.

To achieve sustainable growth, the Strategy specified six Strategic Objectives:

1. Attractions and Experiences – Revitalize, protect and improve existing attractions and identify new

attractions to meet market demand.

2. Marketing, Promotion and Information – Motivate tourists, tour operators and media to visit

Georgia and influence their decisions before and while they are traveling.

3. Destination Management - Improve infrastructure and visitor services. Conserve natural

environment and cultural heritage through sustainable tourism development.

4. Create a Well Trained Workforce - Create a well trained workforce that becomes a resource hub

for the region.

5. Leadership and Management - Foster a proactive organization and management culture in the

DOTR and with other agencies.

6. Financial Resources and Investment - Create, sustain and promote a positive climate for tourism

investors.

The central recommendation for sustainable growth and investment in tourism is to establish the

“Georgian Way.” The Georgian Way

provides a core Tourism Route based on hub and spoke destinations and linking to neighboring

countries for regional offers. The “Way” is comprised of six key destination hubs: Sighnaghi/Telavi,

Tbilisi/Mtskheta, Gori, Kutaisi, Borjomi/Bakuriani, and Batumi/ Kobuleti.

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Why Tourism as a key economic driver for Georgia? It is one of the world’s fastest

growing industries. On December 13th, 2012, the world welcomed its one billionth

international tourist! Tourism is a major source of global employment – over 254

million jobs, according to the World Travel & Tourism Council.

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The core of the travel and tourism industry – accommodations, recreation, transport,

etc – is just the tip of the iceberg in terms of full impact of tourism on an economy.

Beneath the tip are all of the other sectors that are impacted. With increased

tourism demand, there is increased demand for the many goods and services

shown beneath the tip of the iceberg.

These many goods and services can be seen in the example of a typical hotel.

From flower sales and services to cleaning services and supplies to accounting

services to food purchases at the marketFon and on. All of these purchases are

made because of tourism demand. Without tourism, there would be far fewer

purchases of these.

I got a bit carried away with this slide!

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International arrivals have been steadily increasing in Georgia with especially

dramatic growth in the past three years. This was based on data received from the

Georgia tourism department on December 10th, 2012.

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So it is not surprising to see quite a number of impressive developments in

Georgian tourism.

This demand is being driven by a number of international trends – increased interest

in authentic experiences, cultural tourism, culinary and wine tourism, ecotourism

and adventure travel – all areas that are strengths for Georgia.

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Currently, most of Georgia’s international arrivals are concentrated in only five

markets with only 10% from the rest of the world. This 10% spends more than

double what visitors from the top five markets spend. So 10% of the arrivals account

for most of the tourism spending in Georgia.

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Nearly every market, including the 10%, grew in 2012 compared with 2011.

However, nearly every region grew in 2012 except for parts of the Middle East and

North Africa. There are more people traveling, but they are also traveling to more

destinations.

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The World Economic Forum’s Tourism Competitiveness Index does invite some

questions on methodology. All three of these countries lost international tourists in

2011-12 due to civil conflicts and instability. And most of Albania’s visitors come

from neighboring countries. However, the Index is regarded as something of a

benchmark for tourism administrations.

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As of mid-December, this was the Georgian Tourism Department’s home page. I’m

not sure when the change occurred, but it has been better than this. Unfortunately,

this does not engender a great degree of confidence among prospective visitors and

investors.

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Georgian tour operators are recognizing these markets and seeking to attract more

visitors. While they can certainly see some success for their individual companies,

without broader industry-wide and market coordination, it is difficult to “move the

needle” of Georgian tourism in a stronger, more positive direction, a direction that

will shift the balance of tourism spending towards higher spending visitors.

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