· Web viewCONSOLIDATED REPORT ON CURRENT STATUS OF RURAL AND AGROTOURISM SECTOR IN GREECE, BULGARIA, MOLDOVA, ARMENIA, GEORGIA AND UKRAINE. January 2014. Table of Contents. ABSTRACT2

Project funded by the European Union

CONSOLIDATED REPORT ON CURRENT STATUS OF RURAL AND AGROTOURISM SECTOR IN GREECE, BULGARIA, MOLDOVA, ARMENIA, GEORGIA AND UKRAINE

January 2014


Table of ContentsABSTRACT...............................................................................................................................................2

INTRODUCTION......................................................................................................................................2

MATERIAL AND METHODS.....................................................................................................................3

RESULTS..................................................................................................................................................4

The concept of rural and agrotourism..........................................................................................4

Rural regions in project area........................................................................................................6

CHARACTERISTICS OF THE CURRENT DEVELOPMENT OF RURAL TOURISM IN GREECE, BULGARIA, MOLDOVA, ARMENIA, GEORGIA AND UKRAINE.....................................................................................6

1.MOLDOVA................................................................................................................................6

1.1 Reflection on governmental and civic society initiatives to support rural tourism...................7

1.2 Existence or inexistence of standards in agrotourism in Republic of Moldova.......................10

1.3 Survey of the stakeholders - findings and results.................................................................11

1.4 SWOT analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats).........................................14

2. ARMENIA...............................................................................................................................15

2. 1. Tourism development trends in Armenia.............................................................................15

2.2. Private tourism sector...........................................................................................................18

2.3 Legislation , regulations.........................................................................................................18

2.4 Rural Tourism Resources......................................................................................................19

2.5 Eco/agro-tourism in current national tourism policies and plans.........................................21

2.6 Recent Projects on Tourism as a tool for community and rural development in Armenia. .22

2.7 Existence of standards in rural/agro-tourism sector in Armenia...........................................24

2.8 Level of services in rural tourism - Survey of Entrepreneurs.................................................25

2.9 SWOT Analysis of development of Agrotourism in Armenia..................................................29

3. BULGARIA..............................................................................................................................30

3.1 Characteristics of the current development of rural tourism in Bulgaria...............................30

3.2. Factors determining the significance of rural and agrotourism in Bulgaria...........................32

3.3. Participants in the formation and implementation of agrotourism product.........................33

3.4. Advantages of rural tourism in Bulgaria................................................................................37

3.5. Disadvantages of rural tourism in Bulgaria:...........................................................................37

3.6. Existence of official and unofficial standards in rural and agrotourism sector in Bulgaria.....38

3.7. Prerequisites for the development and expansion of the market share of rural tourism.....39

3.8. Accommodation base categories...........................................................................................40

3.9. Problems in rural tourism......................................................................................................41

3.10. Laws and regulations...........................................................................................................42

3.11. National and regional strategic planning documents:.........................................................42


3.12 SWOT analysis of rural tourism sector in Bulgaria................................................................43

4. UKRAINE................................................................................................................................44

4.1 The actual state of agro-tourism in Ukraine...........................................................................46

4.2 Legislative regulation..............................................................................................................59

4.3 Formal and informal standards for green tourism..................................................................60

4.4 SWOT analysis of rural green tourism....................................................................................66

4.5 The analysis of questionnaire.................................................................................................69

5. GEORGIA...............................................................................................................................75

5.1 General Information about Economic Situation in the Country..............................................75

5.2 Historical Background.............................................................................................................76

5.3 Information about Agritourism in Georgia.............................................................................77

5.4 The actual state of agro-tourism in Georgia...........................................................................79

5.4 Legislative regulation..............................................................................................................86

5.5 Certification agencies for international standards..................................................................88

5.6 Formal and informal standards for agrotourism.....................................................................88

5.7 SWOT analysis of rural green tourism....................................................................................89

5.8 The analysis of questionnaire.................................................................................................91

6. GREECE..................................................................................................................................92

1. INTRODUCTION........................................................................................................................92

2. METHODOLOGY........................................................................................................................94

2.1 GENERAL...........................................................................................................................94

2.2 QUESTIONNAIRE FOR ACCOMMODATION ENTREPRENEURS...........................................94

2.3 QUESTIONNAIRE FOR ENTREPRENEURS OF OTHER SECTORS (OUTSIDE ACCOMMODATION).....................................................................................................................95

2.4 QUESTIONNAIRE FOR VISITORS / TOURISTS.....................................................................96

3. QUESTIONNAIRE RESULTS FOR ACCOMMODATION ENTREPRENEURS....................................98

3.1 PROFILE OF THE ACCOMMODATION................................................................................98

3.2 HUMAN RESOURCES.......................................................................................................100

3.3 PROMOTION AND INFORMATION..................................................................................103

3.4 QUALITY RELATED ISSUES...............................................................................................105

3.5 ADDITIONAL SERVICES PROVIDED..................................................................................106

3.6 OBJECTIVES AND PROBLEMS OF THE BUSINESSES..........................................................108

4. RESULTS OF THE QUESTIONNAIRE OF ENTREPRENEURS OUTISIDE THE ACCOMMODATION SECTOR.......................................................................................................................................109

4.1 GENERAL.........................................................................................................................109

4.2 ESTIMATED LEVEL OF SATISFACTION PER TYPE OF SERVICES.........................................110


5. RESULTS OF THE QUESTIONNAIRE FOR VISITORS - TOURISTS................................................116

6. SWOT ANALYSIS......................................................................................................................118

6.1 STRENGTHS.....................................................................................................................118

6.2 WEAKNESSES..................................................................................................................118

6.3 OPPORTUNITIES..............................................................................................................119

6.4 THREATS.........................................................................................................................119

ABSTRACT The following consolidated report is created in connection with Activity 1.2 of the

project “Quality Certification System in Agrotourism - CerTour” in the framework of the Joint Operational programme “Black Sea Basin 2007-2013”.

It consists of Abstract, Introduction and 6 sections, each of which contains the results from the studies of the current status of agrotourism sectors, conducted by the partners of project CerTour in their countries. Each report contains the main characteristics of the corresponding agrotourism sector, a profile of the agro/rural tourism enterprise and entrepreneur and a SWOT analysis of the sector, which is helpful for the assessment of the whole picture of agrotourism sector in the project area and for the development of the Gap analysis needed for the design of the Common Standard Framework.

INTRODUCTIONThe concept of agrotourism combines two main sectors of the economy – tourism and

agriculture. Therefore, it can be considered as a business supplementing agriculture and as a form of recreation in rural houses and private farms.

In Greece, in the Applicant's area, agrotourism has started to be developing in the last 10-15 years, mainly due to the European grants under the LEADER initiative or similar programmes. In the region, there are about 40 lodges and other 120 enterprises providing agrotorism services in general (accommodation, restaurants, car rentals, recreation etc). The majority of the customers come from the neighbouring regions and the staying time varies from weekends to one week.

Agrotourism in Bulgaria is presented by the cottages on the Bulgarian Black Sea resorts, and villas at the foot of several mountain peaks. The number of lodges throughout the country


is over 150 and in the partner's area is about 50, while the total number of businesses providing agrotourism services in general is about 100.

In Armenia, agrotourism was stressed as a separate direction in the tourism industry in the end of 70's and, currently, it has become one of the most important segments of the modern tourism industry. In the "Armenia Competitiveness Assessment" made for the Armenian government in 2004, is mentioned that "there are also resources in Armenia that are assets for developing niche market tourism: agri-tourism is a possibility, along with soft adventure and cultural discovery tours that might be focused around festivals or cultural attractions that serve as highlights of the product but not as the basis for the product", but also that there is "no quality rating system (classification of tour operators, guides, and hotels);new tourism law will partially address this". So far it is estimated that about 100-120 accommodations can be characterized as agrotourism businesses while over of 300 enterprises provide relative services

In Georgia the agrotourism has started to be developing recently, giving rural population the opportunity to get involved in tourism industry, receive alternative income, creates new jobs. Nevertheless the agrotourism infrastructure, related to the other countries, is still poor and the enterprises providing agrotourism services in general are about 50-60.

Travel and tourism in Moldova is underdeveloped. The quality of the infrastructure and services is low. The country’s roads are in a poor state and need improvement. In addition, the prices for tourism services in Moldova are too high, and as a result are not competitive when compared with those of other neighbouring countries. The sector of agrotourism is focused mainly in wine routes and, at present, there are some 50 wine tasting halls situated within the wineries in suburban areas and in small towns

In Ukraine, the rural tourism has started to be developing at the end of the 20th century in the Carpathian Mountains and today, the country is experiencing a mini boom of agricultural tourism. Many villages are suitable for agrotourism and many have already begun the conversion to agro recreational villages. The main reason for this is that lower income families prefer vacations in rural areas where they can find ecological products, inexpensive housing and become re-acquainted with old customs. In the Ukrainan partner's are area is very difficult to count the firms that provide agrotourism services. According to an initial estimation there are about 150-200 accommodations and 300 general services providers.

MATERIAL AND METHODSIn Armenia the present study has been conducted in the capital city of Yerevan and in

all 10 regions (marzes) of Armenia: Shirak, Armavir, Lori, Ararat, Kotayk, Gegharkunik, Syunik, Aragatsotn, Tavush and Vayots Dzor.

In Moldova the four research areas were: South of Moldova, districts Cahul and Comrat; North of Moldova, districts Edinet and Soroca; Central-West part of Moldova, districts Calarasi and Hincesti and Central-East part of Moldova, districts Orhei and Rezina. Altogether, about 80 persons representing different organizations, institutions and private companies were interweaved and carried out discussions.


In Ukraine the development of rural tourism in the Carpatians, Crimea, Kherson and Zaporizhzhya regions was separately analyzed.

In Bulgaria the four research areas were: South-Central Bulgaria, districts Smolyan and Kardjali in the Rhodope area; North-Central Bulgaria, districts Veliko Tarnovo and Gabrovo; North-Eastern Zone, district Varna; South-Eastern Zone, districts Stara Zagora and Bourgas.

Questionnaire was the primary research tool. Apart from the questionnaire other data collection methods were used as well: telephone interviews, direct interviews, talking with people and organisations, comprehensive literature research, including a review of relevant publications in the field of commerce, newspapers, magazines, annual reports, company literature, online databases and any other published material; email survey. In the research areas different kind of organizations, and enterprises were questioned: institutions, local authorities and communities (municipalities in villages), transportation, accommodation and catering companies, entrepreneurs and members of the staff of tourism enterprises, intermediaries: tourist operators, tourist agencies, tourist information centers, tourist guides.

RESULTSThe concept of rural and agrotourismTo identify the term " agrotourism ", it is necessary to take into account the view of

authors from different disciplines over the past few decades. Among the various points of view stands the general opinion for a direct link between rural tourism, ecotourism and agrotourism. In accordance with the interpretation of the EU " Rural tourism has a broad sense and refers to any type of tourism activity in a rural environment, including tourism in farming estates and agrotourism ".

This definition shows that agrotourism is a subcategory of rural tourism offered at the farm. In Anglo-American literature the term " farm tourism" is used. Here are some of the definitions of agrotourism of various authors :

Holyland: Agrotourism provides temporary lodge and/or indirect opportunities for recreation (refreshment) into a working farm.

Frater: Tourism enterprises that are built on working farms in addition to the existing farming activities.

Murphy: Working farms that complement their core function with some form of tourism.

Pearce: Farm tourism represents a further ownership of farm estate and an active participation of farmers in a tourism risk-taking.

Denmann-Denmaun: Actively providing facilities for tourists in a working farm.

Agnoli: Activity using rural goods, lifestyle and culture of rural communities.

Cals-Capella-Vaqui: Tourism activities relating to agriculture.


Agritourism in the interpretation of Ukrainian scholars and practitioners is often understood as holidays in «ahrooseli» (homes in rural areas). Today, as it has already been noted, there is no clear definition between the terms «rural», «agricultural», «farm», «eco». Agritourism, Rural Tourism – tourism in rural areas: in rural areas, on farms, in convenient peasant homes («ahrooseli»).

According to the Governmental Decision no. 352- XVI of 24.11.2006, rural tourism in Moldova is defined as: ”form of tourism organized in rural area and oriented to use of local touristic resources (natural, cultural, etc.), discovering of rural area and specific to it activities, habits and traditions of households and farmers, etc.”

In Bulgaria an official definition of agrotourism does not exist. One of the definitions that has been adopted is: “Rural tourism, including the participation of visitors in the production, processing and consumption of agricultural products”.

The variety of definitions of agrotourism, ecotourism, or also called green tourism and rural tourism, make it difficult to differentiate them. Therefore, this report will use the term “rural tourism”, taking into account that it incorporates the concept of agrotourism.

Tourism in rural areas is an economic alternative for many rural regions all over Europe. It is a real opportunity for alternative income for farmers, given the challenges of the environment in which they are located. Tourism in rural areas is considered an important segment of tourism in Europe (second in importance as a motivation for travel), it is considered that due to its multiplier effect the annual income reaches 65 billion euros.

The concept of agrotourism combines two main sectors of the economy – tourism and agriculture. Therefore, it can be considered as a business supplementing agriculture and as a form of recreation in rural houses and private farms.

In both cases, leading is the economic interest - it helps to increase income and stimulates the development of the region.

Agrotourism has the unique ability to integrate the natural resources of a region, its agricultural livelihood, traditional crafts and cultural attractions in collective tourism product. The added value is that it allows the tourist to get in contact with the local folklore and customs of rural communities.

Tourists are increasingly willing to taste rural life, to meet and communicate with local people. Rural tourism encompasses all tourism activities carried out in the country. Tourists expect to take part in the daily life of the household: to pick fruits and vegetables, to prepare traditional dishes, to take part in the customs and events of the area, to be trained in local crafts, folklore and agricultural traditions. These activities are usually accompanied by hiking, mountain biking, horseback riding, visiting monasteries, museums, archaeological and other sights.

Rural and agrotourism as a recreation in the countryside are not just fashion, but a necessity, given the environmental pollution, the dynamics and intensity of life in cities, which naturally lead people to search for tranquility and relaxation in a clean environment and secluded places. This type of tourism is a characteristic of highly urbanized and developed


countries because of the desire to return to nature. In many countries it is stimulated at national level and is considered a good alternative of the mass tourism, which is entirely economically oriented and largely ignores the environmental, social and moral values.

In almost all visits to villages for the purpose of tourism tourists travel with family or friends. They can choose between accommodation in small cottages or farms, rural inns, family hotels, guest houses, etc. The location of the site is of great significance - whether it is in an area with a preserved environment, close to water areas, close to a natural phenomenon and ecological paths, in the mountain or in a cultural and architectural reserves.

The development of rural tourism requires diversity of tourism resources: natural resources (special geographical characteristics, climate, flora and fauna, landmarks, etc.); historical heritage (architectural and archaeological monuments, churches and monasteries); cultural heritage ( folklore and ethnographic heritage , traditional arts and crafts, traditional festivals and customs, traditional food and more; local country life (stock-breeding and agricultural practices, local food and drinks, etc.).

Analysing and summarizing what has been said so far, rural tourism can be defined as "tourism in rural regions, which satisfies interests of the tourists for traditions, customs, culture, agriculture and other specific activities as well as for natural, historical and cultural resources of a region”.

Rural regions in project areaThere are common characteristics of rural regions in Greece, Bulgaria, Moldova,

Armenia, Georgia and Ukraine. The density of population is lower than the average for the country. The natural population growth in rural areas is negative. The migration from rural to urban areas is a contributing factor to the negative growth of the population. The proportion of people in working age is lower than in urban areas. The educational level of the population in rural areas is lower compared to this in urban zones. There is a significant imbalance in socio-economic development between rural and urban zones as well.

CHARACTERISTICS OF THE CURRENT DEVELOPMENT OF RURAL TOURISM IN GREECE, BULGARIA, MOLDOVA, ARMENIA, GEORGIA AND UKRAINE

1.MOLDOVAAccording to the Governmental Decision no. 352- XVI of 24.11.2006, rural tourism in

Moldova is defined as: ”form of tourism organized in rural area and oriented to use of local touristic resources (natural, cultural, etc.), discovering of rural area and specific to it activities, habits and traditions of households and farmers, etc.”

Another Governmental Decision - no. 643 of 27.05.2003 that establishes the methodological rules and the criteria for the classification of touristic structures for the


accommodation and dinning services, give following information related to agrotourism: “The categories for classification of touristic pensions are: 4, 3, 2, 1 stars;

Agrotouristic pension – is a structure for touristic host, situated in a rural community, with the purpose to ensure accommodation for tourist, with a capacity between 3 – 20 rooms, functioning in private houses or in independent buildings that ensure partially the tourist feeding with products from own household.

The categories for classification of agrotouristic pensions are 3, 2, 1 stars.”

The new Strategy “Tourism 2020” gives a categorization of all forms of tourism recognized in Moldova as following:

Active forms of tourism: Wine tourism, Business tourism, rural tourism, spa tourism, religious tourism, trips’ tourism.

In Republic of Moldova the rural tourism is based on tourists that benefit of following services:

Accommodation in agro pensions;

Feeding with pure ecological products grown and cooked in the region;

Recreation;

Participation (depending on season) at agricultural activities and community life.

The tourist may stay in the village in order to explore the surroundings. As Moldova has large agricultural surfaces and many villages, the country has a big potential for the development of this form of tourism. The participation at handcraft activities could be one of the motivations to visit rural area in Moldova. “The rural tourism can directly contributes to the local and regional development” as set in the Strategy for tourism development “Tourism 2020”.

Types of tourism that need to be impelled: Cultural tourism, gastronomic tourism, social tourism, sport tourism, motor-car tourism, week-end tourism, urban tourism, nostalgic tourism, ecological tourism.

Perspective types of tourism: Academic tourism, transit tourism, naval tourism, medical/health tourism, external tourism.

1.1 Reflection on governmental and civic society initiatives to support rural tourism

According to an express analysis recently made by Association for Tourism Development referring the strategy “Tourism 2020” for the development of tourism in Moldova elaborated by state institutions, several problems influence the diversification of non-agricultural activities through rural tourism in Moldova. The organization is very critical when speaking about the big and not respected commitments of the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Industry in the strategic policies where has a key position for the development of


rural tourism, diversification of non-agricultural activities and creation of new opportunities for the economic development, employment in rural area. This Ministry has a role position in the implementation of several policy papers (as SDARM 2020, National Program “Moldavian village”, National Program “The Wine Road”) for the support of rural tourism and coordination of common actions with other state and nongovernmental actors. It was planned to create 865 economic entities only in the National Program “Moldavian village” and thus to stimulate rural tourism (in that sense to create new 258 touristic structures for accommodation in rural area). Current Strategy for Agriculture and Rural Development of Republic of Moldova 2014 – 2020 (SDARM 2020) includes under priority no 3: Improvement of life level in rural areas and specifically target no. 3.2: Creation of employment opportunities in non-agricultural area and increase of incomes in rural area through (activity no.3.2.1) “Support for creation and development of agrotouristic services”. This actions should be implemented within 7 years by attraction and valuation of external founds only – 141, 5 ml. MDL and creation of 354 touristic units. So, according to analyze made by Association for Tourism Development, this new purposes are more realistic but by the other hand there is no connection and continuity with the preview commitments, there is no territorial distribution of aggregation in some regional roots.

Also, the special Commission created under the Governmental Decision no. 979 of 12.08.2008 concerning the boosting of tourism development in rural area - resulted in organization of 3 workshops and no working plan or relevant for SDARM 2020 actions was adopted so far. So, as a result the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Industry has totally ignored the preview declared commitments and determined disappointment of other actors interested to promote rural tourism in Moldova.

By the moment civic organizations consider that rural tourism actions are delegated to structures that have no attribution to it. Also, development of rural destinations needs an adequate regulation framework, relevant human resource, arrangement of touristic attractions and a good promotion. Unfortunately, some institutions subordinated to governmental structures and targeted to develop rural tourism within the national programs (as. Moldavian village and Wine road) had no capacities to follow the problem and needs and ho administrative resources to promptly influence the improvement of rural tourism.

One concrete example is possibility of “small accommodation of up to 7 places” that declined because of interdiction of special patent for entrepreneurship, and determined the migration to “black services”, and national statistic ignores them as units for collective accommodation. So, this is why during 2000 – 2012 in all country we have only 19 touristic pensions.

The new project of the strategy for tourism development was elaborated in a participatory way and both civil society and relevant state structures where involved in the process. Thus the strategy includes recommendations for a sustainable. The objective of the strategy is to create 354 agropensions in only 7 years but without using money from the state Budget. This is hard to realize that having no concrete directions and financial commitments the entrepreneurs from rural tourism will be twice abandoned despite the declarations of the Ministry of Agriculture to ensure necessary support.


It is necessary to mention that other policy papers and laws delegate the responsibilities concerning rural tourism to local public authorities that don’t have necessary capacities and financial resources for the inventory and arrangement of touristic attractions in rural area.

In the action plan of SDARM 2020 includes one of the Ministry of Agriculture’s target to finance the action 3.2.1 “Support for creation and development of agrotouristic services” with 141,5 ml. LEI for creation of 354 tourist units during 2014-2020. But these resources are planned to be collected from external sources and no state contribution is considered. Theoretically Ministry of Finance coordinate the activity of the Commission for the development of tourism in rural area, represented by governmental structures dealing with important national founds that finance the priority “Tourism” (National Found for Rural Development and National Ecologic Found) or relevant actions to create access to touristic objects, financial tools that could provide directions to co-finance the mentions initiatives.

The lack of cooperation between relevant institutions in the country, determine the lack of national financial support for concrete projects and release of financial resources allocated for rural tourism.

The majority of foreign donors that work in Moldova do not support directly the arrangement/constructions works of private accommodation units even in rural space. So, it is not clear enough why governmental institutions plan to finance touristic units from external sources that, as mentioned above, do not provide direct support for the creation of private economic structures.

It is important to mention the bad applications of terminology limits the area of actions for the support of rural tourism. There is still confusing the use of terms “rural tourism” and “agrotourism” that are different and the last one define the activity only in agrotouristic pensions. Therewith, the tourism in rural area represents in a wider interpretation the diversified customers’ service in rural space (accommodation, meal, degustation, traditional transport, cultural tours, handicraft, ethno-events, etc.). Or, the further maintained confusion limits the interventions of implementers of national policy papers.

It is important to notify that about 10 other accommodation units specific for rural tourism (officially named in the Nomenclature of touristic units in Republic of Moldova) even are not called agro pensions but touristic pensions / vacation villages, camping, etc.), and also those intended for meal serving are differently called “crame” (eng.: pubs). Thus, an incorrect term implies technical barriers for possible future actions.

So, by the moment National Tourism Agency elaborated the project of Strategy for tourism development “Tourism 2020” and included recommendations of both civil society and relevant governmental institutions. As inform the Agency, from the list of 20 priorities set for 2014-2016, one is related to certification of 20 already created touristic roots according to European standards and to elaborate and certificate other 10 touristic roots within 2015-2016. The main indicators in tourism area by 2016 are:

6 partnership agreements signed with other states;


30 touristic routes certified;

2 national roots created and connected to European routes;

2 advertisement materials elaborated;

1 touristic map elaborated;

5 touristic guidelines elaborated;

10 touristic events annually organized;

Participation at 8 international touristic exhibitions;

Valuation of 20 types of tourism;

50 touristic guides certified;

1 pilot touristic zone created;

35 touristic stops created;

600 trained persons within qualification trainings/seminars;

50% of accommodation structures classified;

4 automated informational systems;

10 electronic applications oriented to promote tourism; etc.

It is expected that by 2020 the annual number of tourists in the framework of receptor tourism will increase with 3 % and will conduct to accumulation of 248 ml. lei. By the other hand the number of annual tourists for internal tourism will increase to 4% and will generate 851 ml. lei.

Another action favorable for the conditions of rural tourism development is elaboration of new Law of tourism. In October 2013 first meetings, workshops were organized for that purpose by the Agency of Tourism with the participation of inter-ministerial working team and of professional organizations from tourism area.

“The new law intend to define the limits between responsibilities of tour-operators and tourism agencies and introduction of the notion “financial guaranty” and of conformity certification in tourism” as claim the Agency of Tourism. So, no specific additional regulations concerning rural tourism have been yet discussed.

Within the discussion with representatives of National Association of Rural, Ecological and Cultural Tourism in Moldova (ANTREC-Moldova), that is also involved in the process of elaboration of the new Law of tourism, is was concluded that changes in Moldova concerning rural tourism are much dallied and depends on many social, political and economic aspects. The Association has a network of tourists structures which try to follow internal rules of the network concerning organization of agrotouristic activities, but no additional official documents, except of those named in this study to conform to the legal framework are used.


The “internal regulations” are set by this organization for the purpose to make the entrepreneurs more competitive between them-selves and to bring them closer to European standards and requirements, making references to countries from the region that are more advanced in that sense. Currently this Association promotes a new concept for rural tourism development called “rural house”. This new concept, expresses a new form of organization of rural tourism except of agro pension (as set in the Law no.352), and simplify the conditions for its registration and development. Also, it will be much easier to certify this form of rural tourism organization. The recommendation is discussed by the working team of the new Law.

1.2 Existence or inexistence of standards in agrotourism in Republic of MoldovaUnfortunately, specific standards for rural tourism/ agrotourism don’t exist in Moldova.

A framework of specific standards in agrotourism and a standardization process are necessary to be elaborated; even the rural tourism is considered and active form of tourism in Moldova. But, in order to pretend to European standards in tourism and other area of economic development, is necessary to analyze the good practices in standardization and elaboration and adoption of specific standards in agrotourism in Moldova and to ensure the quality of services and motivate local and foreign tourists.

1.3 Survey of the stakeholders - findings and results The main stakeholders in the formation and implementation of tourism product are:

institutions, local authorities and communities, „ producers «of tourism product, tourists, tour operators and agencies.

Institutions identify the attractions by region, measure the qualities of tourist resources, build infrastructure and provide publicity and advertising.

Main institutions identified involved in the development of agrotourism in Moldova are, at central level, the Agency of Tourism, Ministries of Economy, Ministry of Regional Development and Constructions, at regional/local level Agencies of Regional Development, NGOs. Thus, at the central level were developed the following strategic documents for agrotourism impel: National Strategy - “Tourism 2020” - sets the main directions, principles and indicators that must be accomplished in tourism development, National Strategy for Regional Development 2013-2015 that will contribute to the development of agrotourism by building the necessary infrastructure and improving the environment and development of the business sector. Agencies for Regional Development and NGOs that implements strategies, programs and projects for promoting environment, green agriculture, conservation of natural and cultural heritage resorts, improvement of tourism infrastructure, services and marketing, human resource development by providing professional training and education locally adapted to the needs of the economy, promotion of entrepreneurship and managerial skills, Improving the quality of human resources services and tourism.

Local authorities and communities/local governments are important stakeholders that have the following responsibilities regarding to tourism development:

inventories main tourist resources;b) participate in the development of tourist routes in accordance with tourism development programs;


c) creates favorable conditions for the activity in the territory of the undertakings in the tourism industry and public associations in the tourism sector ;d) contribute to the renovation, protection and conservation of tourism resources by regulating human impact and compliance of enhancing them;e) gives authorizations for the areas for recreation and leisure;f ) undertake actions for tourism development planning;g) ensure that areas authorized for tourism are equipped with necessary travel indicators;h ) contributes to equip these areas with minimal facilities for visitors (places for preparing and serving meals, facilities for accumulation of waste , toilets, etc.).i) contribute to the improvement and protection of the environment through the development and implementation of actions and special programs coordinated with the central authority for natural resources and environment;j) train local people in tourism activity;k) contribute to the development of different forms of tourism in the territory.

However, from the discussions and interviews had with the representatives of these institutions very small part of these responsibilities are implemented by the local authorities. The main reason for this is the lack of human resources and funds. Also, there are no specialists on tourism within in the municipalities or local government. Their functions are taken over by specialists in culture, economy or investments.

At the same time, local authorities play a very important role in coordinating and creating partnerships with local businesses and non-governmental organizations through participation in various projects connected with tourism/agrotourism development. Also, with their participation, local strategies for tourism development are elaborated. Tour operators are important stakeholders in providing information and promoting agrotourism destinations for tourists. According to statistical data there are more than 200 tour operators in Moldova. Most of tour operators are concentrated in the capital city of Moldova and in 17 districts do not operate any travel agency. In the first half of 2013 about 5400 foreign tourists who visited Moldova and about 14000 internal tourists used the services of travel agencies and tour operators. At the same time, through travel agencies and tour operators in the same period of 2013 went abroad about 61 500 tourists. This situation was confirmed also by representatives of tour-operators, their services are mostly used by residents of Moldova to travel abroad than by in-coming tourists. Also, they would like to have more rural tourism destinations in order to create tourist routes attractive for tourists and compatible on international tourist market. Entrepreneurs – usually owners of small enterprises in rural area offering tourism services for tourists. Initially 35 entrepreneurs were included in the survey, part of them have refused to participate in survey, some of them do not operate anymore, so the final number of entrepreneurs included in the study is 20.The summarized results of the survey are as follows:

81.8% of the surveyed entrepreneurs have established their enterprise in the last 10 years;

35% of them own a guest house, 35% a family hotel and 30% identified their self as villa and nobody of those interweaved were organized as farm;


45% has less than 10 bed places and 55% has more than 10 bed places;

30% of the interviewed entrepreneurs have any of the tree categories. 10% are 2 stars category and 20% are 3 stars category. Most of the tourism sites are not categorized;

45% of the respondents do not use a hired labor in their business and 55 has hired labor;

90% of those engaged in rural and agrotourism have an university degree or any tourism education, and 20% do not have;

60% pointed out that a small part of their staff has tourism education and 40% said that nobody from the staff has any tourism education;

95% from the entrepreneurs speak at list a foreign language, 85% said that Small part speaks at least 1 foreign language part of the stuff of the, tourism enterprises speaks foreign languages, respectively, 10% said that Great part speaks at least 1 foreign language and 5% said that Everybody speaks at least 1 foreign language. Here we have to consider the fact that Russian is widely used in Moldova and almost 85% of the population speaks both Romanian and Russian languages.

90% of the respondents use a computer for reservations, 75% for web page management and only 35% for reservations;

At the question How do you advertise your tourism enterprise? the answers were as follows: Internet – 60%, Brochures – 20%, Catalogues – 0, Visit Cards – 80%, TV – 40%, Radio – 40%, Tourist fairs – 40%, Internet site – 50%, Verbal communication – 60%.

80% explore the tourism market through the internet, 50% uses tourist guides and 20% - marketing agencies.

80% of the respondents do not use any services of a tourist information center and only 20% uses.

The greatest part (90%) doesn’t have any quality certificate and only 20 % has one.

85% of the entrepreneurs do not apply any quality standards and only 25% do apply;

25% are members of any tourist association and 75% are not member of any association;

80% of the entrepreneurs attended a course for the improvement of management culture.

60% never had any quality control and 40% were checked by a state authority (Center for Preventive Medicine);

From the services offered to the customers 90% said that they are offering also short walks, picnics or BBQ and cooking local food, 80% are offering also wildlife, bird watching, 60% has guided tours mainly on foot, 50% are offering cycling and agricultural process, also 25% are offering traditional handicraft, 15% - boating, 10% long walk, 5% participating in folklore activities;


70% pointed out the increasing of the number of costumers is the main objective of their business, 90% want to improve the quality of the tourism product and 80% - to improve the efficiency of the tourism enterprise and 90% - attract more international tourists;

95% of the entrepreneurs have indicated that they want their business to be certified;

The problems hindering the prosperity of rural tourism business were pointed out by the entrepreneurs as follows: 90 %- poor infrastructure of the region, 30% - the insufficient transport links, 50 %- the poor road infrastructure, 95% - the large bureaucracy of administrative procedures, required for starting and conducting tourism business and 50% - lack of managerial culture in tourism.

1.4 SWOT analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats)

Strengths (S) Weaknesses (W)

1. Positioning tourism as a priority branch of the economy

2. The availability of natural and human resources

3. The existence of the legal framework in the field

4. Implementation of tourist projects financed by the state budget

5. Implementation of strategies and programs for tourism development in different districts

6. Availability of tourist accommodation with modern accommodation and food:

51 touristic pensions (from which 19 are considered agropensions) in all regions of the country – North, Centre, South (in the districts: Edineţ, Soroca, Rezina, Teleneşti, Glodeni, Călăraşi, Hâncesti Orhei, Criuleni, Chişinău, Ialoveni Căuşeni, Stefan Voda, Cantemir);

7. Existence of conference rooms equipped with modern equipment

8. Existence of two training centers and retraining of staff in the tourism industry

9. Specialized activities of various tourism associations

10. Moldova is a member of international organizations that support development of tourism

1. Tourism Legislation not aligned to European standards

2. Legal and regulatory framework is insufficient and outdated:

- The Governmental Decision no. 643 of 27.05.2003 needs changes for stimulation of accommodation structures’ development under a more competitive cost on international market.

- The Governmental Decision of 12.08.2008 referring the impel of tourism in rural area is not implemented at all

- The mechanism for implementation of legal framework concerning the Registry of tourism is missing

5. Shortage of skilled human capital in managing the domain and providing quality services

6. At the central level, there is no institutional framework for the implementation of state policy in the field

7. Lack of functional tourist information offices Moldovan diplomatic missions accredited abroad

8. Limited number of tour operators and travel agencies

9. The small number of tourist hotels of 2-3 star categories, which would contribute to the development of inbound tourism by attractive prices


(World Tourism Organization of the United Nations, Danube Competence Center, BSEC, GUAM, CIS Tourism Board, etc.)

competitive on the international tourism market.

During 2000-2012 there are only 19 agro-pensions.

10 High costs for accommodation services in domestic tourist receptions structures

9. Limited number of accommodations is located in rural areas where sights are located.

10. Limited number of classified accommodations

11. Insufficient tourist signs

12. Lack of information panels 13. Lack of places for camping14. Old tourist buses park15. Lack at most of the tourist attractions and museums of qualified staff that are speaking foreign languages16. Statistics are calculated incorrectly and do not reflect the real situation of the field17. No evidence of individual tourists is taken18. Poor efficiency of the control mechanism of compliance of the quality of tourism services.

Opportunities (O) Threats (T)

1. Traditional hospitality.2. Strategic positioning of the country (border with CIS and European Union).3. Free-visa regime for citizens of EU countries, USA, Japan.4. Air connections with major hub airports, price liberalization and de-monopolization of flights and aviation5.The existence of foreign assistance projects for tourism development6. Large number of tourist attractiveness events: cultural, artistic, sporting, recreational7.Brand known wine country8.Availability of unique wine cellars in the world9.Massive penetration of information technologies in service10.The existence of political support.

1. Underdeveloped tourism infrastructure

2. Low level of knowledge in Europe and in the world of Moldova as a tourist destination

3. Lack of favorable investment climate for investors to develop infrastructure of tourist reception with functions of accommodation and food for mass tourism.

4. Reduced competitiveness of tourism in Moldova (high cost for a visa to Moldova and flights)

5. Extremely limited number of objectives included in the UNESCO Heritage List in Guinness Book

6. Insufficient financial resources for the promotion of tourism: exhibitions, promotional materials, financial support of projects in the field, etc.

7. At local level, there is insufficient domain management

8. Inadequate road infrastructure


9. Missing or improper fitting toilets at entry and at gas stations designed to serve groups of foreign tourists on national tourist routes.

2. ARMENIA 2. 1. Tourism development trends in ArmeniaThe government of Armenia declared tourism as one of the priorities of economic

development and has adopted the strategy of decentralization of tourism development. Over the past five years, Armenia has seen considerable growth in its tourism sector as a result of a more focused government policy toward tourism development as well as through numerous private sector initiatives

The Armenian government expects some USD 2.7 billion to be invested in tourism industry development between 2008 and 2020. This and other figures are provided in the government-designed tourism development Concept (Tourism Development Concept Paper. 2008. p38).

By 2020 the number of foreign tourists is expected to soar to 1.5 million annually, while overall income is supposed to reach USD 1.35 billion

2.1.1. State and Private Supporting OrganizationsArmenian Development Agency The Armenian Development Agency (ADA) was established in 1998 by the

Government of the Republic of Armenia to facilitate foreign direct investments and promote exports.

Tourism infrastructure is one of the priorities of ADA in foreign investment promotion.

The Ministry of Economy

The Ministry of Economy is the main state structure that is responsible for development and implementation of economic policy. The Ministry of Economy has the Department of Tourism and Regional Economic Development in its structure and main directions of state policy directed on development of tourism sphere of Republic of Armenia and sphere’s substructures are:

Development and application of drafts of the legal acts regulating the sphere of tourism, the analysis of current practice and participating in discussions of other legal acts concerning or having the relation to the sphere of tourism.

Management of enterprises of the sphere of tourism with state participation, development and realization of the proposals on economical-structural improvements of the enterprise activities.

Development, application and exploitation of the licensing system in the sphere of tourism pursuant to the RA legislation.

Participation in the works having the relation to the sphere of tourism and hotel services.


Cooperation with the state and local governing bodies of the Republic, subjects involved in economic activities of the sphere of tourism, associations, representative unions and other organizations with the aim of problem solutions of the tourism development and implementation of various measures to facilitation of the tours in country

Creation of the data bank concerning touring enterprises, their services, markets of local touring product, tourism normative bases, coordination and analysis of information.

Cooperation with international organizations with the aim to develop and to implement of the joint programs for the development of the sphere of tourism.

Cooperation with the World Tourism Organization, other regional and international organizations specialized in the field of tourism.

Development and coordination of the realization of the international bilateral and multilateral agreements signed by the Government of the RA in the sphere of tourism.

Introduction of the proposals on establishment and management of the tourism industry representative offices of the RA in foreign countries.

Cooperation with the corresponding bodies regulating the sphere of tourism in foreign countries.

Participation in training of the personnel of the sphere of tourism and adjacent specialties, tourism services inside the country and in foreign countries.

Creation and control of the informative-advertising database on Armenian tourism industry.

Assistance to participation of representatives of local touring services in international/regional tourism exhibitions and fairs and other measures.

Implementation of the studies of domestic and foreign touring markets, economic researches in the field of tourism, systematization and coordination of advertising and introduction of local touring services in the international markets.

Creation of an informational database of tourism statistics of the country, its regular updating and analysis. Development and implementation of state policy aimed to develop of the tourism industry of the RA and its substructures.

National Competitiveness Foundation of Armenia

The Competitiveness Foundation is an independent entity founded through a partnership between the Government of Armenia and a group of leading representatives of the private sector from the United States, Russia, the European Union and the Middle East. The Competitiveness Foundation is focused on Education, Healthcare and Tourism .

The main objective of the NCFA Tourism Program is to promote the image of Armenia as a favorable and attractive destination, as well as the effective presentation of Armenian tourism opportunities in international markets.

To accomplish this goal, a strategy for tourism promotion has been adopted which will highlight the different areas of tourism within Armenia while preserving its historic and cultural heritage. Armenian Hotel Association

The Armenian Hotel Association (AHA) is a non-profit organization founded in 2006 Objectives of the Association are to represent Armenian hotels nationally and internationally,


to develop/train the workforce, to work towards improving legal and tax fields and creating a more favorable legislative and tax environment for Armenian hotels.

Union of Incoming Tour Operators of Armenia UITO is the Union for independent and specialist holiday companies.

Armenian Ecotourism Association

The members are united to promote eco/agro-tourism – the force that will contribute to a better understanding of our natural and cultural heritage and will provide revenue to the local community sufficient for people to value, and, therefore to protect the environment as a source of income.

Also we have in this sphere, Armenian Guides Guild, American Society of Travel Agents Armenian Branch, etc.

In the sphere of tourism and services there are universities and institutes providing special education. The list of main state and private universities with specialized tourism departments and faculties is given below.

Armenian Institute of Tourism

Armenian State University of Economics

French University in Armenia

German University in Armenia

Russian-Armenian (Slavonic) University

Russian State University of Tourism and Service

Yerevan University of Management

Yerevan State Armenian-Greek College of Tourism, Service and Food Industry

There are also several specialized training courses in this sphere.

2.2. Private tourism sectorThere is a growing realization among private businesses in Armenia and abroad of the

economic gains to be had from rural tourism. Many private tourism agencies in Armenia are trying to promote rural tourism, but there are only a limited number of tour-operators that actually conduct such tours.

When there are no services, there’s no demand. And travel agencies will only offer agrotourism products if they have complete confidence in quality service delivery.

Information about tourism agencies and much more is available at www.armeniainfo.am.

2.3 Legislation , regulations

http://www.armeniainfo.am/


Below is the list of laws and decrees that are of importance in tourism sector of Armenia.

Law of the Republic of Armenia on “Tourism and Tourism Activities”

Law of the Republic of Armenia on “Trade and Services”

Decree of the Government of the Republic of Armenia “About Setting Conditions and Rules for Hospitality Services, Verifying Conditions and Procedures for Hotel Property Rating System

The Law on Specially Protected Natural Areas;

The National Strategy and Action Plan for PAs;

2.4 Rural Tourism Resources Armenia, where one can find many untouched pieces of unique natural complexes is the

heaven for green tourists. Each picturesque mountain village with its inimitable landscape, local traditions and unique cultural and historic monuments hidden in rocks, has a great potential to lure the tourists. These rural areas are of great interest for the development of tourism with the combination of the elements of eco-, agro- and adventure tourism such as walking, skiing, horse and donkey riding, culinary and wine tours, amateur fishing, cultural-historical tours, etc.

In countryside there are numerous historical-cultural monuments attractive for tourists: Stone Age sites, Dragon stone monuments, tombstones, cave shelters, fortresses, towers, bridges, mills, water channels, rock paintings/carvings, churches, monasteries, chapels, khachkars (stone-crosses), etc.

The majority of the monuments are combined with morphologically unique relief and beautiful geographical locations, and the historical-architectural monuments occupy a decisive role not only in the historical-cultural heritage of Armenia, but are also important in the wider South Caucasus. The interest for foreign visitors/tourists is obvious.

During the Soviet times, Armenia was an industrialized country with a large rural population. Today, over one million Armenians live in rural areas and are dependent partially on agriculture. There are about 320,000 farms in Armenia, a number of which has remained approximately steady over the past decade. Rural households’ main productive physical asset is land. Farmers operate on small plots of land and are constrained by poor roads, inadequate irrigation, and an under-developed market economy

In rural communities there are a keen interest in tourism development and many rural/agro-tourism objects such as rural houses, agro-tourism farms, inns and B&Bs, which are located in picturesque places, often very close to protected natural areas. These picturesque places with their unique landscapes, way of life, unique cultural and historical monuments, are of great interest for the development of tourism with the combination of the elements of eco-, agro- and adventure tourism such as walking, skiing, horse and donkey riding, culinary and wine tours, amateur fishing, cultural-historical tours, etc.


Wineries are some of the hotspots of rural tourism. Armenia is one of the oldest winemaking countries in the world. Winemaking began in Armenia more than 3,000 years ago.

The climate of Armenia, which is located in a subtropical region, is defined by its mountains. Due to the country’s ideal climate conditions a full range of wines can be produced.

In Armenia summers are hot and dry in the valleys surrounded by mountains and winters are harsh with few snow. Armenia has advantages of dry air and a large number of sunny days during the year. This lends special qualities to Armenian varietals.

The Armenian varietals have a high sugar content and thus high alcohol, which facilitates the production of fortified wines. Armenia grows more than 200 kinds of grapes, most of them native to the region. There are about 30 that are the most popular, including Mskhali, Garan, Dmak, Voskeat, Muscat, Areni, Kahet, Rkatsiteli, Adisi, Azateni, Anait, Karmrayut, Nerkeni, Tokun, and Megrabuir.

Armenia has six wine regions: Ararat, Armavir, Tavush, Aragatsotn, Syunik and Vayots Dzor.

Cuisine is also one of the key aspects of rural tourism. Armenian cuisine is as ancient as its history. Armenian culinary traditions are over 2,000 years old. Armenian cuisine resembles а poem, where each verse has its own flavor. It guides us to the feasts of Armenian rulers, shepherds and monks, enriched with old Eastern recipes. Part of every Armenian holiday celebration is the abundant table covered with delicious food.

Anyone who knocks on an Armenian’s door is a guest. Local cultural traditions present excellent opportunities for tourism events: ethnography, craft making, ritual songs, dances, games, national plays, horse games, puppets, meal preparations, performing ancient theatre at their purity, ensembles of ancient music and theatre of shadows, ancient rituals, etc.

Organizing festivals and farmers' markets are increasingly popular community revitalization strategies. For the communities that sponsor markets or host festivals, these events promote the community and bring consumers to downtown areas or small villages for additional shopping. They are also a means of educating the public about issues affecting the community such as support for local farmers, open space, and the quality of life in rural communities.

In Armenia there are many festivals, including wine festival, food festival, cheese festival, harvest festival, which are organizing every year. Wine festival is organized mainly by Areni village, which considered one of largest wine tasting village. Every year lots of tourists are visiting there and becoming familiar with Armenian wines, foods, etc. There they can not only taste wines and foods, but also buy foods exactly from villagers.

Besides villages, every year is organizing national food expo. Profile for exhibit include meat products, dairy products, nonalcoholic drinks, mineral water, strong drinks, beer, tobacco goods, confectionery, ice-cream, the equipment for the food production and packing etc.


Municipal administrations and local initiatives

There is keen interest in tourism development among municipal administrations and other official bodies in small towns, rural communities, and among the local private sector. Many locals are well informed about the unique cultural and natural attractions of their country, and have excellent ideas and are willing to get involved. However, they have no relevant knowledge, experience, or modern tools necessary for tourism product development, marketing, promotion and management.

Only general tourism related issues are included in strategic development plans for each marz (district) in the country. There are no particular tourism development mechanisms. Limited activities are planned within the framework of small and medium enterprize development programmes. Other general initiatives of regional administrations could be considered as tourism related activities, such as local road infrastructure, water supply and wastewater treatment.

Local authorities also show keen interest in tourism development . It is essential that local authorities tackle priority tourism issues and functions that can be fulfilled by no other agency.

Only a local authority can:

Provide a strategic and operational role in maintaining a high quality physical environment;

Provide links and continuity of policy between the services, such as planning, environmental health and highways, that are essential to a sustainable tourism destination;

Ensure that the needs of the whole destination, including residents, businesses, and the environment, are represented and considered in the management of tourism.

There are several local initiatives that aim to develop tourist activities/services in the regions. They involve both small private business enterprises and local NGO and community initiatives. Besides small hotels and guest houses, there is also a Bed & Breakfast (B&B) network in some small towns and villages. Local associations and NGOs, such as the Dilnet Service and Dilijan Tourism Association in Dilijan, Areguni NG0 in Vardenis, Khustup environmental NGO in Kapan, and Ashkhatank ev Hayrenik NGO in Vayk deal with environmental and tourism issues.

Many tour-operators try to promote and implement adventure and nature-based tourism. In all provinces of Armenia there is a lot of interest and desire among rural communities, official structures, protected area personnel, as well as, of course, private business (small hotels/guesthouses/restaurant owners) to be involved in ecotourism activities. However the huge potential of nature based tourism including tourism in protected areas, rural tourism and adventure tourism, is still not properly realized.

As with any business, two general problems contribute to this: an underdeveloped product and little market acceptance.

2.5 Eco/agro-tourism in current national tourism policies and plans


The Sustainable Development Program, adopted in 2008 states that one of the main goals of tourism development is increasing of inputs to welfare of people and poverty alleviation and has identified agro-tourism development among the bases of rural development. One of the main objectives is tourism development in regions (marzes), particularly rural and ecotourism are among the priorities.

Tourism Development Concept Paper (2010 - 2030) states the economic and social benefits of tourism for rural areas through creation of entrepreneurial opportunities and development of communities. Among State Policy aims are improvement of living standards and poverty alleviation in rural areas. Focus will be made, particularly, on decentralizing tourism products to Armenia’s rural areas.

Besides, according to Concept Paper sustainable growth of tourism requires active and effective cooperation among all stakeholders – state governance and local self-governance bodies, private sector and population and elements of the tourism industry relate directly to many government ministries, as well as to local governance bodies.

The Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper and the Human Poverty and

Pro-poor Policies are the main documents in Armenia outlining non-agricultural

government strategy and action plans for rural areas

2.6 Recent Projects on Tourism as a tool for community and rural developmentin Armenia

There are several tourism initiatives in rural areas and in small towns. Some of them are described in brief below.

Community-based tourism projects in two villages – Tatev (Syunik Province, www.tatev.org) and Gosh (Tavush Province), have been implemented within the framework of the World Bank’s Trans-Caucasus Tourism Initiative. Both villages boast amazing nature and ancient architecture – Tatev and Goshavank (Nor Getik) monasteries, the largest spiritual, political, cultural and educational centers of medieval Armenia. The monasteries once hosted universities about a thousand years ago. Both villages offer unique examples of well preserved rural charm and character and traditional Armenian hospitality. Each village has a visitor centre and a developed B&B network and other hospitality services.

Areguni NG0 in Vardenis in the buffer zone of Sevan National Park offers accommodation in guest-houses, trips by boat or carriage, visits to cultural-historical and nature places, meetings with skilled craftsmen – stone carvers, wood engravers, painters, carpet-makers - and other tourist activities. Tourists can take part in farming or learn about Armenian cuisine.

B&Bs owners from different regions of Armenia have been involved in Supportive Trainings organized by USAID and as a result can now provide quality tourist services. This training covers day-to-day functions of operating and managing a Bed & Breakfast. B&Bs offer different services based on the size of the house, number of rooms, facilities available, etc

http://www.tatev.org/


Several community-based tourism projects have been initiated in different regions of Armenia.

Hospitality Competitiveness Initiative in Syunik In Syunik region, the southern part of Armenia, as many as 200 hospitality sector workers are sharing this vision through a training delivery partnership between USAID/EDMC and the OSCE Project Implementation office in Syunik Led by internationally certified trainers through the American Hotel Association and the Word Federation of Tourist Guide Associations, the sessions target tourism guides, employees from front desk and housekeeping, food and beverage services, as well as B&B operators and middle management. The training develops middle management’s skills and helps them pass their newly acquired knowledge to line level employees.

Yenokavan village is situated in the north-east of Armenia, 10 kilometres from the town of Ijevan. It is located at a height of 1,000-1,300 metres, surrounded by hills, and close to a forest-covered gorge about 100 metres deep that ranges for about five kilometres. For several years this area has been a tourist magnet as a result of investments by the Moscow-based doctor Artak Chibukhchyan, a native of the village, who set up the Apaga Tour Company and decided to turn his birthplace into a recreational area for those who prefer a healthy and active holiday. Tourists are offered several sight-seeing tours on horseback or on foot, which include the natural wonders, as well as many historical and cultural monuments - fortresses, churches, khachkars (cross- stones).

The Development of Economy in the Deep South of Armenia project runed by the Meghri 1 NGO aims to develop tourism in Meghri town. The project aims to develop the Pokr Tagh (Small Quarter) of Meghri into an international cultural tourism centre by using its human, historical-cultural possibilities and natural monuments, and to develop ethnographic tourism in the traditional environment. As well as developing tourism it is also hoped to create employment

WWF- Armenia demonstrates a growing interest in ecotourism development projects in protected areas and surrounding communities

WWF Armenia has renovated and furnished the B&B (bed and breakfast) facility located at the bezoar goat observation site in Shatin village, Vayots Dzor Province. The highways and roads towards this site are marked by billboards and signs. The staff of B&B facility is trained.

According to estimates of implementing organization, economic incentives created in Shatin will allow to increase the amounts of income by 30-40% and decrease the scales of overgrazing by 10-20%.

The process of establishing B&B facilities has begun in the selected villages of Shvanidzor, Tatev and Gnishik. These communities are located near protected areas in southern Armenia: Arevik National Park, Shikahogh Reserve and Gnishik Sanctuary. B&Bs are anticipated to create alternative incomes to local people and avert them from overexploitation of forest, wildlife and other natural resources.


The Community –based tourism ( CBT) projects implemented also in Koghb and Dsekh villages

OXFAM GB in partnership with the “ Work and Motherland” local NGO within the framework of Sustainable Livelihoods Development for Rural Communities in Southern Armenia helps to renovate farms in 6 rural communities of Vayots Dzor region, providing new opportunities for farmers to get involved in the growing agro-tourism sector.

Goris as a tourist center program aims to turn the town until 2016 into tourist center, which will correspond to the international standards, to turn into cultural, educational and tourist centers the neighbouring villages – Tatev, Khndzoresk, Halidzor, Karahunge, where the traditions and customs had been preserved the best, the dialect and cuisine of Goris. The main goal of the program is also to set up an infrastructure, to create tourist accommodations on the territory of the old mountainous Goris.

The three-year Tatev Revival Project which includes developing tourism products in the adjacent river gorge and villages, and a Cuisine Revival Project. The project includes restoration and conservation of the monastery, development of infrastructures, improvement of Vorotan Gorge, and the development of rural and culinary tourism with the involvement of adjacent communities. The greatest work of the project, which has about $50 million budget ($20 million of the sum was donated by 100 Armenian and foreign benefactors, and $10 million – by the government), is the construction of the longest tramway in the world, 5.7 kilometers, which is finished October 2012.The Tatev tramway, of the cost of $13 million, runs from the village of Halidzor, close to the highway from Yerevan, to Tatev village, where the Tatev monastery complex (IX century) is located.

2.7 Existence of standards in rural/agro-tourism sector in ArmeniaClassification of Accommodation Services in RA

The RA law on “Tourism and tourism activities” provides for a wide range of accommodation services: hotels, motels, guest houses, sanatoriums (health centers), leisure homes and specialized camps, pensions, youth hostels, camping and tourist sites, visitor’s apartments (Article 8). The Law defines the basic requirements to each of the above-mentioned accommodation establishments and accommodation services offered by them. The Law provides for 5 categories of classification by stars for hotels and motels. For guest houses, sanatoriums (health centers) there is a 4 star classification system. Leisure homes and specialized camps, pensions, youth hostels, campings and tourist sites, visitor’s apartments re classified by 3 categories marked with Roman numerals (Article 10, paras 6-8).

The criteria for certification of different types of accommodation establishments are set down in the Annexes 3 to 10 of the GOA Decree of N 946. As in majority of countries, in RA as well elaboration of certification procedures and standards are much influenced by Armenian reality, marketing needs, historical and cultural background. Classification criteria system in fact combines some infrastructure and some service requirements, thus being somewhat a mix of both.


The RA Law on Tourism (Article 10.2) provides the opportunity for voluntary classification of all types of accommodation services, which is exercised by the Ministry of Economy. The qualificated accommodation received certificate.

Provision for voluntary certification system in Armenia is considered to be reasonable from the interests of sector development in the relatively new market.

The idea that the voluntary certification system is beneficial at the current stage is supported also by the representatives of the field.

The basic document regulating the procedure of classification of accommodation establishments is the GOA Decree of N 946 providing separate criteria for classification of each type of accommodation establishment.

The application procedure for certification includes collection of documents for the Evaluation Committee to evaluate the conformity of the accommodation establishment to state-planning, fire safety, sanitary-epidemiological norms and standards

Evaluation of compliance of the hotel to the basic requirements is conducted by the Evaluation Committee which is formed by the Ministry of Economy. The Committee consists of 9 members on representative basis from state bodies, which includes the certifying state body, urban-development body, state sanitary-epidemiology body, state body for emergency situations, self government body, as well as the private sector representative, including the organizations such as for protection of consumer rights, unions of painters, architects and designers, foreign language professionals and experienced professionals in the field of hotel services and tourism nominated by the NGOs and relevant unions of legal entities from the field (Para 14 of the Decree). Participation of NGO and private sector representatives in the Committee work is viewed as rather important in terms of promotion of NGO sector and presentation of hotel industry players’ interests, as well as ensuring the impartiality.

One of the critical constraints generally raised regarding the hotel certification is that after receiving a certificate the accommodation establishment becomes somewhat reluctant in further improving and developing the quality of services. In this respect, the GOA Decree states that the certificate of category is issued for 5 years and can be prolonged by 3 month prior application of the accommodation establishment. This is an important tool to promote the quality of service in the accommodation establishments.

From the time of the implementation of the certification system in RA 31 accommodations have undergone state certification procedure and received relevant stars. 14 of them are so called Guest houses in different regions of Armenia, that could be considered as Agrotourism establishments

2.8 Level of services in rural tourism - Survey of EntrepreneursA wide range of different types and categories of establishments exists in the regions of

Armenia, starting from a few quite luxury accommodations to the rustic guesthouses with very simple facilities.

Most of them could be considered as rural/agro-tourism establishments. defined as a combination of a natural setting and products of agricultural operations combined within a


tourism experience. It includes providing tourists with opportunities to experience a broad spectrum of agriculturally based products and services ranging from fruit stand shopping to winery, orchard tours, from farm based bed and breakfast accommodation, to tourist participation in cattle drives.

Agritourism farms in Armenia offer tours to allow a person to view the growing, harvesting, and processing of locally grown foods, such as corn, coconuts, sugar cane, and pineapple. Often the farmers provide a home-stay opportunity and general education on the workings of the farm.

Because most Armenian farms are operated by small landowners, there is great opportunity for customization and uniqueness in agroturism attractions. Furthermore, many agroturism activities are successfully provided with a small farm crew. The agroturism experience involves the following activities: farm tours, farm visits and stays, on-farm sales, festivals and fairs, animal watching, bird watching and botanical tours, other wildlife viewing, garden or nursery tours, including grape harvest and winemaking, garden or nursery tours, along with grape harvesting and apricot picking, winery tours, tours to dairy producing factories, tours to home of villagers, participation to on-farm, particularly fishfarms activities, traditional bread (lavash) making, picnic, hiking, horse-riding, bicycling, rock climbing, visiting cultural monuments, swimming, mushroom and berry picking, photography and painting.

There are some hotels and rural guests-houses operating according to environmental standards.

Only natural materials are used in design, furnishing and food. They contribute to sustainable tourism by employing local people and buying local produce. Some of them also use solar energy, and treat their waste using collectors and water treatment (purification) equipment, thus preventing pollution of rivers.

Remarkable range of flora, high quality and unique taste of fruits and vegetables, unpolluted nature and variety of water resources indicate opportunities and potential of developing organic hotels in Armenia.

Tufenkian heritage Hotels, Mirhav hotel, HyeLandz Eco Village Resort could be considered as luxury Rural accommodation.

The Tufenkian Heritage Hotel http://www.tufenkianheritage.com/ is a good example of Armenian Diaspora investment. The hotel chain is a network of boutique hotels, traditional restaurants and tourism facilities – the Avan Dzoraget Hotel (Lori Province), the Avan Marak Tsapatagh (Lake Sevan), the Avan Villa Yerevan (Yerevan), hosted about 6,300 guests in total in 2007. The Old Dilijan Complex in Dilijan town started operations in 2008. All these hotels are situated amidst spectacular natural beauty and use local materials. They also incorporate local traditions to create an authentic ancient Armenian experience. Local ingredients are used in dishes and each restaurant is a replica of a medieval Armenian dining room. Tufenkian Heritage hotels promote eco-tourism by using solar energy, and special waste and water treatment systems.

http://www.tufenkianheritage.com/


HyeLandz Eco Village Resort http://hyelandz.com/ represents a unique choice of stylish village dwellings from newly constructed Armenian tuf stone houses to charming period cottage style units.

HyeLandz offers all the comforts and conveniences for adults and children to enjoy their stay with fully equipped cottages and recreational facilities, as well as splendid gardens and orchards offering organic fruits, vegetables and greens. In the ecologically clean surroundings of the resort you can also see a great variety of domestic animals, such as ducks, geese, chickens, goats, birds, dogs, cats, donkeys etc.

As the main objective of ecotourism is to build environmental and cultural awareness and respect, HyeLandz Management, in cooperation with“Industrial Technologies Co” LLC, is installing solar stations in the territory of the resort and the village to create ecologically clean environment and use all resources more efficiently.

There are many things you can do in HyeLandz Eco Village Resort. Besides having nice walks in HyeLandz orchards, admiring the wonderful surroundings, picking and tasting the organic fruits and vegetables, you can also have fun watching and feeding our domestic animals such as dogs, cats, donkeys, fowls like pigeons, parrots, hens, chickens, ducks, geese, peacocks etc.

Visitors can also be a part in the celebration of HyeLandz special events which are as follows:

Apricot Day (July 11) - Blessing of the new crop of apricot.

Pumpkin Day (November 4) – Picking and decorating pumpkins, tasting pumpkin pie, cake, soup, purée, juice and pumpkin kernels, jam, dried pumpkins made previously.

HyeLandz Day (September 1) – Demonstrating and tasting a variety of food, vegetables, fruits and aperitifs.

Walnut Liqueur and Vodka Preparation Day - The harvest of walnut and the celebration of this day depend on the season.

Mulberry Vodka Preparation Day - The harvest of mulberry and the celebration of this day also depend on the season.

Mirhav hotel is located in the northern part of Goris, high above the city-landscape, on a nice small hill.. The interior of Mirhav hotel is decorated with great taste, incorporating national elements and rugs. Mirhav hotel in Goris has 31 rooms - singles, doubles, triples and even quadros. The main selling points of this hotel in Goris make the great overall quality of the hotel, bright and spacious rooms with national rugs, the good quality food of the restaurant, the multi-lingual staff speaking Armenian, Russian, English, French, German and Persian languages. The brick floors, antiques hanging from the walls, wood furnishings and stone façade all blend with Goris’ historic character. While providing a rustic atmosphere it maintains modern bathrooms, cable TV and internet.

http://web-itc.com/

http://hyelandz.com/


Entrepreneurs The total number of the entrepreneurs included in the survey is 50. The summarized results of the survey are as follows:

85% of the surveyed entrepreneurs have established their enterprise in the last 10 years;

30% of them own a guest house, 35% a family hotel; and 35% a farm or a house with a garden and/or a barnyard, and nobody of those interweaved were identified themselves as a villa

35% has less than 10 bed places and 65% has more than 10 bed places;

15% of the places are with 1 or 2 stars. Most of the tourism sites are not categorized, although there are a few of high categories among them.

70% of the respondents do not use a hired labor in their business and 30% has hired

labor;

60% of those engaged in rural and agrotourism have an university degree Just 10% of people engaged in rural tourism has tourism education

100% from the entrepreneurs and/or their staff speak at least one foreign language – Russian.

85 % from the entrepreneurs and/or their staff speak at least two foreign languages – Russian and English/French/German/ Persian.

10 % from the entrepreneurs and/or their staff speak at three or more foreign languages

90% of the respondents use a computer and software programmes in the management of their tourism enterprise, however only 5 % of them use on-line reservation, 25% have websites. Other use computer for e-mail communication, e-mail reservation and everyday management.

To advertise their tourism enterprise they use as follows: Internet – 45%,

Brochures – 20%, Visit Cards – 70%, TV – 10%, Radio – 5%, Tourist fairs –

20%, Internet site – 25%, Verbal communication – 60%.

70% explore the tourism market through the internet, 30 % - through the

communication with incoming tour-operators.

60% of the respondents use services of a tourist information center, mostly www.armeniainfo.am

50 % of the respondents use services of the a tourist agencies

The greatest part (85%) doesn’t have any quality certificate and only 15 % has one.

80% of the entrepreneurs do not apply any quality standards and only 20% do apply;

http://www.armeniainfo.am/


55% are members of any B&B association and 5% are a member of Hotel Association;

70% of the entrepreneurs attended a course for the improvement of management

culture.

80% never had any quality control

The additional services offered to the customers are as follows: Guided tours (100%), Short walk/stroll (100%), Long walk, hiking (70%) , Boating (5%), Wildlife, bird watching (10%), Horse riding (10%), Cycling /Mountain biking (5%), Picnic or BBQ (30%), Cooking local food (40%); Traditional handicraft (30%) Agricultural process (40%)

100% pointed out the increasing of the number of costumers is the main objective

of their business, 90% want to improve the quality of the tourism product and 80% -

to improve the efficiency of the tourism enterprise and 100% - attract more

international tourists;

80% of the entrepreneurs have indicated that they want their business to be

certified;

The problems hindering the prosperity of rural tourism business were pointed out

by the entrepreneurs as follows: 80 %- poor infrastructure of the region, 30% - the

insufficient transport links, 40 %- the poor road infrastructure, 5% - the large

bureaucracy of administrative procedures, required for starting and conducting

tourism business and 50% - lack of managerial culture in tourism.

2.9 SWOT Analysis of development of Agrotourism in ArmeniaStrengths Weaknesses

The government of Armenia declared tourism as one of the priorities of economic development and has adopted the strategy of decentralization of tourism development.

Abundance of natural attractions and historical sites.

Beautiful nature, mountainous landscapeInteresting flora & faunaHigh amount of sun hours from April to mid-

OctoberUnique history (ancient & modern) and

historical monumentsPossibility of hiking, climbing, and other

outdoor activitiesUnique cultural traditionsHigh level of literacyInteresting social life especially farmers and

their livesWarm, friendly and hospitable people

Huge gaps in providing services in regionsLack of trainingsLimited knowledge of marketing principles Limited access to financeInsufficient information systemInsufficient infrastructure (parking areas,

sewage plants)Difficult transportation outside the capital (bad

roads)High transportation costs for international

visitors.Lack of entrepreneurial knowledge and

experience.Lack of variety in entertainment options.Absence of rural/agro/adventure-tourism

statisticsRoad quality variesLack of promotion of the country as a rural

tourism destination


Specific cuisine Different types of rural accommodation are

availableLow cost of internal transportationVery safe destinationArmenia is not associated with terrorismOnline visa accessDeveloping online services Relatively low competition on regional scale.New experience differentiated from traditional

mass tourism travel routes

Lack of service facilities for tourists – restaurants in regions, public toilets

Closed borders with neighbors (Turkey, Azerbaijan )

No beachesLow competition

Opportunities Threats

Agricultural and natural diversity Interconnection of historical, ethnographical

and craft-industrial traditionsRecreational activities and sportsInfrastructure expansion and quality of housing

facilitiesSupport of health improving programsMerging recreational activities and sports with

AgrotourismInvolvement of rural youth in agrotourism

activities.Creation of a regional tourism network and

database.Development of niche products to be

incorporated in rural tourism segment: historical, cultural, discovery, soft adventure, outdoor sports, Special Interest – religious, scientific, geological, bird watching

Increased diversity of events, better organized and promoted

New, vocationally based trainings offered in partnership between several key tourism university programs and tourism associations

Appeal to the discovery tourist niche – those who appreciate authentic tourism and are able to overlook limited infrastructure

Targeting rural tourism products to key markets

Improvement in rural tourism perception through branding effort

Many visitors are interested in destinations that offer a unique experience

Agrotourism, eco tourism and soft adventure are interesting niche markets

Degradation of natural resourcesDamage of environment and ecosystem through

deforestation and large mining projectsLand using problems.Pollutions,Host attitude changesCommercialization of traditionsIncreasing regional competition Quality of core attractions in competitor

countriesPotential risk of geopolitical instabilityCurrency fluctuation

3. BULGARIA 3.1 Characteristics of the current development of rural tourism in Bulgaria3.1.1 General characteristics

Bulgaria has a remarkable natural, cultural and historical resources for the development of rural tourism. The Bulgarian heritage undoubtedly provokes great interest among Bulgarian and foreign tourists. In recent years we have seen an increasing number of tourists from Germany, France, England, Israel, the Netherlands, the U. S., Scandinavia and Japan. A


number of agencies , family hotels, guest houses and sports clubs emerged, providing services in this area. Many citizens of Europe settle down in Bulgarian villages and small towns.

The lack of clearly defined concepts about the nature and content of rural tourism, as well as other forms of tourism, different from the mass tourism, makes it difficult to determine the content and requirements for the offered tourist services, and respectively to meet the expectations of tourists. According to the Bulgarian Association for Rural and Ecotourism the rural tourism is: " Partial or complete" immersion " in rural areas: staying in a farmhouse with a rural garden, farmyard and its inhabitants, unplanned and informal contacts with local people, fresh organic food, tangible touch to a natural, slightly modified, dotted with bucolic pictures landscapes." Bulgarian Association for Alternative Tourism (BAAT) formulates the definition like this: " Agrotourism is a form of alternative tourism, characterized by a stay in a rural environment (house or arranged near campsite or other accommodation facilities), contact with the owner, access to the farm. It can be a part of a tour, a stay for the weekend or for a week . In both cases, tourists expect to be involved in the daily life of the household: picking of fruits and vegetables , herbs, preparation of traditional dishes, participation in the customs and festivals of the region , observation and training of local crafts , folklore and agricultural traditions. These activities are usually supplemented with various active and cultural tourism (hiking, mountain biking, horseback riding, visiting monasteries, museums, archaeological and other attractions, School of Crafts) and the most common is a mix of all that. " Another definition of rural tourism: „ Rural tourism is tourism in rural areas, which meets the interests of the tourists toward the traditions, customs, culture, agriculture and toward other specific activities as well as natural, historical and cultural resources of the region, accompanied by calm and relaxed human relationships ".

Rural tourism in Bulgaria is developing in individual and collective form. The first involves the accommodation and food supply in rural rooms or guest houses, family or other small hotels, villas and light type buildings.The second form represents complexes that are consistent with the main features of the settlements in Bulgaria: compactness, territorial delimitation. Both forms allow the development of perspective family business.

The last official report of National Institute of Statistics shows that in 2012 in the country functioned 2758 state and private accommodation establishments - hotels, motels , lodges , camps and other accommodation establishments with more than 10 beds. The total number of nights spent in the accommodation base in 2012 was 20,252,038. The number of nights spent by foreigners was 13 451 440, which accounted for 67% of all nights. Almost all foreigners - 97.8% preferred to stay in hotels, while other type of accommodation establishments (camping , cabins and other non-accommodation) were chosen by only 2.2%.The structure of nights spent by foreigners in 2012 showed that the highest proportion of overnight stays is in accommodation establishments withfour and five stars ( 57.0% ), followed by those with three stars ( 31.7% ) and with one or two stars ( 11.3% ). Having in mind that rural tourism accommodation base is rarely with more than 3 stars, we can assume that rural tourism customers fall in the category of those 43% without knowing their precise percentage. Unfortunately in the official statistics in Bulgaria there are no accounting records for the development of rural and agricultural tourism as a


form of tourism. For this reason, a detailed and comprehensive analysis of the main indicators characterizing agrotourism business is not possible.

In practical terms, an unofficial data exist for about 300 households in the villages who develop this type of activity in authentic rural houses (from the total number of 803 091 rural households, this represents 0.04%).

According to the Bulgarian Association of Alternative Tourism in Bulgaria only 0.1% of tourists practice rural tourism and it generates only 0.5% of total revenues in tourism. About 90% of the tourists in this segment are foreigners. The domestic market, despite the growth in recent years, is generally underdeveloped.

For a long period of time measures that enable the development of rural tourism were not working and almost nothing was done in this direction. There were objective reasons for that, as for example were the unclear zoning and inclusion of eligible municipalities that could take money for rural tourism. In 2012 the situation changed and the utilization of funds under the Programme for Rural Development for the development of rural tourism increased. One of the main priorities of RDP 2007 - 2013 was to diversify the rural economy and accelerate the development of an integrated rural tourism by implementing measures:• Measure 3.1.1 "Diversification into non-agricultural activities "• Measure 3.1.2 "Support for the creation and development of micro enterprises"• Measure 3.1.3 " Encouragement of tourism activities "In 2012 Fund "Agriculture" approved grants totaling 7.3 million BGN. Of these 4,797,745 were for measure 3.1.1 from the Program for Rural Development - "Diversification into non-agricultural activities" and 3.1.2 - "Support for the creation and development of micro enterprises . " Ten projects were approved for building of guest houses for 6 to 28 beds. Significant investments in rural tourism had to be made under measure 313 - "Encouragement of tourism activities " as well. Under this measure Fund "Agriculture" signed contracts for 2.5 million BGN.

3.2. Factors determining the significance of rural and agrotourism in Bulgaria - Rural and agrotourism have a great potential for development as sustainable, because of the greater opportunities for the accommodation facilities to be in harmony with the environment - smaller size, lack of concentration, location in the less urban, rural areas; - The significant share of foreign tourists, which have visited Bulgaria, who identify themselves as attracted to rural tourism ; - Rural and agrotourism provide opportunities to attract national and international tourists with a strong affinity for a undisturbed holiday in a clean and preserved natural environment, as it is in the rural areas; - Improve the image of Bulgaria as a tourist destination, developing many types of tourism; - Comply with EU priorities for the development of rural areas and improves opportunities for attracting and better use of EU funds; - The agrotourism creates opportunities to increase the value of agricultural products through their realization on the spot and as a food for the tourists in the accommodation and catering facilities ; - Stimulate the diversification of agricultural production in areas required to meet the


needs of tourists. This in turn allows for a more complete and more efficient use of land resources of Bulgaria;·

- Stimulate the creation or revival of various handicrafts, the product of which is available as a regionally specific. This on one hand creates additional income for the local population and on the other hand increases the interest of tourists to Bulgarian culture and traditions, improves the image of Bulgaria as a country with rich traditions, crafts and mastership of the local population; - Stimulate the creation or improvement of the micro-enterprises, producing primarily processed food for tourists and locals on the basis of local raw materials. This on one hand, creates employment and income inside the microenterprises and on the other - encourages the agricultural production; - Stimulate the improvement or creation of new types of services in rural аreas with double sided effect: satisfaction of the tourism demand and the needs of the local population and improvement of the image and quality of life in rural areas of Bulgaria; - Create conditions for the use of the traditions and lifestyle of the local people as a resource highly appreciated by tourists; - Improvе the identity of local communities; - Contribute to the reduction of regional disparities in tourism infrastructure in Bulgaria focusing on accommodation facilities in less populated and visited rural areas; - Create jobs in rural areas directly or indirectly related to tourism; - Positive influence on the development and preservation of settlements in rural areas through the creation of employment in activities directly related to tourism and the creation of conditions for development; - Contribute to the preservation and improvement of local, cultural, historical, domestic, folklore heritage."

National Strategy For Sustainable Development Of Tourism In Bulgaria 2009-2013, (adopted by the Council of Ministers on 2.4.2009) displays the main characteristics of this type of tourism in Bulgaria and outlines the strategic objectives for its development.

3.3. Participants in the formation and implementation of agrotourism product Participants in the formation and implementation of tourism product are: institutions,

local authorities and communities, „ producers " of tourism product, tourists, tour operators and agencies.

Institutions identify the attractions by region, measure the qualities of tourist resources, build infrastructure, provide publicity and advertising. In Bulgaria the sphere of tourism, including rural and agrotourism, is regulated by Ministry of Economy and Energy. The Ministry of Economy and Energy has the responsibility to implement the state policy in the field of tourism and to coordinate the activities of the ministries and other institutions towards its implementation. The major priorities of its activities are the interstate relations in the field of tourism, the regulatory provision for tourist activities, national marketing and advertising, assisting the activities of the regional, local and branch tourist organisations, procurement, marketing research, analyses and forecasts for the tourist market, development of the tourist product and training the staff employed in tourism.


The National Tourist Council functions as a consultative body under the authority of Minister of Economy and Energy. It aims to assist in the implementation of the national tourism policy. Members of the National Tourist Council, in addition to representatives of the state, include representatives of the tourism associations, associations of air, land and water carriers nationally represented consumer organizations and the National Association of Municipalities in the Republic Bulgaria.

State administration bodies: Ministry of Economy and Energy, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of the Interior, Ministry of the Environment and Water, Ministry of Culture, Ministry of Agriculture and Forests, Ministry of Education and Science, Ministry of Regional Development, Ministry of Transport and Communications, Ministry of Finance; National Association of Municipalities in the Republic of Bulgaria: the Tourism Act envisages that municipal administrations have the status of the basic institutions for the development of tourism on a local level;

Branch Tourist Organisations: Bulgarian Association of Tourist Agencies, Bulgarian Hotel and Restaurant Association, Bulgarian Tourist Chamber; Bulgarian Association for Alternative Tourism; Bulgarian Association for Rural and Ecological Tourism;

Local and Regional Tourist Organisations: Pirin Tourism Forum, Bourgas Regional Tourist Association, Stara Planina Regional Association, Varna Tourist Chamber; local Tourism Boards, non-profit organisations uniting companies and organisations of the respective levels interested in the development of tourism, etc.

In the process of creating rural tourism product a key role play territorial communities. Behind their initiative is the Leader approach, which contributes to the achievement of priorities of the Program for Rural Development 2007-2013, related to improving the quality of life and diversification of the employment in rural areas. LEADER approach supports the creation and functioning of local action groups in areas with a population of 10 000 to 100 000 inhabitants. Local authorities and communities are important factors affecting natural and cultural resources, as well as an important component of rural tourism. The number of municipalities in Bulgaria, focusing on the construction of infrastructure, access to major attractions and their promotion, is increasing. Local government in the face of municipalities and mayors promote the development of alternative tourism mainly by improving technical and social infrastructure, as well as creating an appropriate regulatory base - resolutions, ordinances, regulations, orders. Municipal mayors categorize hotels in lower categories, houses and guest rooms. The Tourism Act provides for the establishment of municipal development funds of tourism. Municipalities can be valuable partners with local businesses and non-governmental organizations through participation in various projects connected with alternative tourism. They develop strategies for tourism development as well. The tourism councils of the municipalities can facilitate the cooperation between local authorities and entrepreneurs. At district level structures are created aiming at consolidation of the tourism product and supporting strategic planning and infrastructure improvement. The activities of the National Association of Municipalities in Bulgaria are very important as well.

Tour operators are the originators of the agrotourism supply. Homeowners who already have experience in dealing with tourists know that the best advertising is the satisfied customer. In Bulgaria there are 2700 officially registered tour operators and tourist agents. The majority


of them provide tourist offers within the range of all types of tourism including rural tourism, but usually small tour operators undertake the formation and offering of rural tourism products.

EntrepreneursThe total number of the entrepreneurs included in the survey was 72, part of them were

reluctant to communicate, so the final number of respondents was 40.The most common and significant results of the survey among entrepreneurs in the research regions and villages are as follows (percentages are rounded to the nearest integerk):

68% of the surveyed entrepreneurs have established their enterprise in the last 10 years; 40% of them own a guest house, 38% a family hotel and 22% a farm or a house with a

farmyard. Most of the places are with 1 or 2 stars (95%). There are some tourism sites, which are not categorized;

The share of the respondents, who do not use hired labor /their business involves members of the family/ is 65%;

68% of those engaged in rural and agrotourism don’t have an university degree or any tourism education;

78% don’t have any education connected with tourism In 25% of the tourism enterprises small part of the staff has tourism education and in

75% nobody has such qualification 65% of the entrepreneurs speak one foreign language; In 25% of the enterprises only a small part of the stuff speaks foreign languages, in 45%

small part speaks foreign languages, in 30% nobody speaks foreign languages; 52% of the respondents use a computer for reservations and promotion; 25% promote via web page The most common channels of promotion are Internet 35%, brochures 25%, catalogues

10%, visit cards 42%. Verbal communication is considered to be the most successful way of national promotion (95%);

70% of the entrepreneurs explore the tourist market through Internet, 25% use tourist guides and only 3% use the services of marketing agencies

The greatest part of the respondents in the research areas don’t use the services of a tourist information centers (80%) and only half of them those of a tourist agency (56%).

The greatest part (88%) doesn’t have any quality certificate apart from the categorization and 78% are not members of any tourist association. No one of the interviewed entrepreneurs has ever attended a course for the improvement of management culture;

78% point out that quality control has been exercised over their business without pointing the responsible authority;

The additional services which are most often offered to the tourists are guided tours 75%, short walks 88%, long walks 62%, horse riding 25%, cooking local food 65%, traditional handicraft 33%, agricultural process 30%;

100% point out the increasing of the number of tourists as the main objective of their business, 56% want to improve the quality of the tourism product and 46% - to improve the efficiency of the tourism enterprise;

75% indicate that they want their business to be certified As main problems, hindering the prosperity of rural tourism business the entrepreneurs

point out the poor infrastructure of the region (85%), the insufficient transport links (85%), the


poor road infrastructure (85%) and the large bureaucracy of administrative procedures, required for starting and conducting tourism business (78%).


Business established in last 10 years

Owners of family hotel

Enterprises with more than 10 beds

Do not use hired labor

With tourism education

Nobody has tourism qualification

Enterprises where great part of the staff speaks foreign language

Enterprices where nobody speaks foreign language

Promote via web page

Promote via brochures

Promote via visit cards

Explore market via Internet

Use services of marketing agencies

Use services of tourist agencies

Members of tourist association

Quality control exercised over

Provide short walk

Provide horse riding

Provide picnic/BBQ

Traditional handicraft

Point increasing the number of tourists as main objective

Want to increase the efficiency of the tourism enterprise

Want certification of the business

Point poor transport links as problem hindering the prosperity of the business

Point large bureaucracy as problem hindering the prosperity of the business

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% 120%

Profile of rural tourism enterprise and entrepreneur


3.4. Advantages of rural tourism in Bulgaria • There are a lot of incentives for rural tourism customers and on that basis it may include a variety of activities such as: exploring the folklore, customs, traditions and religion of the local population; participation in agricultural production activities; exploring local flora and fauna; hunting, fishing, horseback riding, hiking and more activities in nature. • There is great potential for the sustainable development of rural and agrotourism because of the greater opportunities the accommodation facilities to be in harmony with the environment - smaller size, lack of concentration and location in less urbanized rural areas; • Complies with EU priorities for rural development and improves the opportunities for attracting and better use of EU funds;·

• Creates opportunities (particularly the agrotourism) to increase the value of agricultural products through their implementation on the spot and as a food for the tourists in the accommodation and catering facilities;

• Stimulate the diversification of agricultural production in areas required to meet the needs of tourists. This in turn allows for a more complete and more efficient use of land resources of Bulgaria;

• Stimulate the creation or revival of various handicrafts, the product of which is available as a regionally specific. this on one hand creates additional income for the local population and the other hand increases the interest of tourists to Bulgarian culture and traditions, improves the image of Bulgaria as a country with rich traditions, crafts and mastership of the local population; • Stimulates the creation or improvement of the micro-enterprises, producing primarily processed food for tourists and locals on the basis of local raw materials. This on one hand, creates employment and income inside the microenterprises and on the other - encourages the agricultural production ; • Stimulates the improvement or creation of new types of services in rural аreas with double sided effect : satisfaction of the tourism demand and the needs of the local population and improvement of the image and quality of life in rural areas of Bulgaria ; • Creates conditions for the use of the traditions and lifestyle of the local people as a resource highly appreciated by tourists; • Improvеs the identity of local communities; • Contributes to the reduction of regional disparities in tourism infrastructure in Bulgaria focusing on accommodation facilities in less populated and visited rural areas; • Creates jobs in rural areas directly or indirectly related to tourism; • Positive influence on the development and preservation of settlements in rural areas through the creation of employment in activities directly related to tourism and the creation of conditions for development;

High degree of personalization of the services.

3.5. Disadvantages of rural tourism in Bulgaria: • Lack of a clear vision and strategy for the development of rural tourism. • Lack of information in a systematic way for development resources of rural turism; • Poor quality of services ; • Poorly trained staff providing tourism services in the field of rural tourism ;


• There are no accepted standards for information management in rural tourism , and no mechanisms for effective, inexpensive and rapid exchange of information between suppliers, manufacturers and the market; • Insufficiently developed products and services in rural tourism sector ; • Lack of chains consolidating entrepreneurs in rural tourism for common activities including advertising, and for protection of their interests; • Insufficient or ineffective promotion of Bulgaria as a rural tourism destination; • Lack of clarity about the functions and powers of NGOs for improving the awareness of employees in the sector and for decision making on the development of rural tourism ; • Lack of information about the needs and expectations of tourists in the rural and agrotourism sector ; • Lack of partnership between entrepreneurs; • Poor common infrastructure in some rural areas; • Problems with the transport and water and sewage system in most of the villages in the rural areas; • Lack or remoteness of the healthcare system in a large number of villages in the rural areas; • Lack of solutions for public- private partnerships for solving problems in the field of establishing common prerequisites for the development of rural tourism.

3.6. Existence of official and unofficial standards in rural and agrotourism sector in Bulgaria

In Bulgaria there is only one official system of standards concerning rural and agrotourism and it is the Ordinance for Categorization of Accommodation, Hospitality and Catering and Entertainment in the framework of Tourism Act. The categorization of the places for accommodation, which prevail in rural tourism sector, is compulsory, but in small villages, as was the case with some of the tourism sites in the research areas, many of the entrepreneurs and owners of the houses and villas choose not to be involved in the complex procedures of categorization. Consequently these very small enterprises fall out of any kind of registers and stay out of statistics. Their number nationwide is considerable and this is one of the reasons for the lack of accurate information about the size of the sector.

The international standards ISO 9001 and ISO 22000 are very rarely applied for rural/agrotourism enterprises because they are very expensive and hard to maintain.

In Bulgaria there are several informal tourism associations providing quality certificates for rural and agrotourism:

Independent quality mark in tourism of Association “Authentic Bulgaria”, which is awarded to small hotels, guest houses and restaurants that meet the requirements of authenticity and original tourism product.

“Green House”- brand image of quality tourism product of the Bulgarian Association for Alternative Tourism (BAAT), consistent with the criteria of the European Association for Rural Tourism and ECEAT Eurogites.

At regional level:

Quality mark of Regional Tourist Association "Stara Planina" Quality mark of Nature Park "Strandja"


Unlike the categorization, which is compulsory, the quality certification systems are voluntary.

The percentage of entrepreneurs aiming at certification is not high. They don’t consider the quality certificate as a factor contributing to the effectiveness of the tourism enterprise.

3.7. Prerequisites for the development and expansion of the market share of rural tourism

In Bulgaria there are favorable conditions for the development of rural tourism, because our country is rich in tourism resources and there has always been an ambition these resources to be used to the best advantage. In many rural areas of Bulgaria there is a considerable tourism resource, through the use of which a positive socio-economic impact could be achieved. The "rural tourism" niche in this country is not busy enough, on contrary it is almost free, and there are enough preconditions for its future development. There are some prerequisites for the development and expansion of the market share of rural tourism in the country: • The share of rural population above working age with low income /pensions, rents of agricultural land/ is expanding; • Due to unfavorable natural and climatic conditions, lack of funds for investment or because of their old age, many rural residents are unable to provide any additional income through agricultural activity – breeding of animals, land cultivation, fruit- and vegetables-growing; • There is a significant residential area in the villages left unused. Due to the growing trend of depopulation of Bulgarian villages, especially in mountainous areas, many rural houses - well kept and maintained - are abandoned; •The famous hospitality of Bulgarians, their legendary penchant for casual communication, the existing tradition of winemaking, culinary skills and old recipes, the ancient crafts are a guarantee for pleasant experience for tourists.

The diversity of natural resources, combined with the unique mountain scenery, create conditions for various activities - fishing, hiking, horse tours and more.

The rich cultural heritage, particularly our ancient history is a significant advantage. Among the regional tourism values are historical monuments, monasteries, churches, caves. The remains of ancient civilizations, and representation of events from the life of extinct nations allow to enrich the culture of the modern generation and preserve the cultural heritage of a region.

• The searching of new forms of business determined by the economic crisis and high level of unemployment. Together with the development of small enterprises in the rural municipalities, the development of rural tourism creates real opportunities to provide jobs for their residents.

Development of tourism in rural areas aimes at improving the social and economic life of the population in these undeveloped regions through:

-The creation of new jobs;-Development of infrastructure in an environmentally friendly manner, bringing together

private and public sector;-Promoting the exchanges between rural areas and the development of positive attitudes


and knowledge of rural communities;-Reducing the number of young people who leave their villages and move to the cities,

and the emigration to other countries, which will help to stabilize the population in the underdeveloped regions;

-Creating opportunities for the preservation of traditional agricultural activities and practices, rural atmosphere and way of life;

-Contribution to the preservation of historical, architectural, cultural and ethnographic identity of the region;

-Encourage the preservation of the environment and contribute to the conservation of rare and endangered plants and animals;

-Maintaining the family relationships into the rural communities;-Promoting the development of small local enterprises, this way encouraging diversity in

economic activities in rural areas ;

3.8. Accommodation base categories The accommodation base of rural tourism in the country can be distributed in the

following categories: • Villages and small towns with original Renaissance architectural design; • Reception areas around attractive villages, beautiful landscapes, ponds and more. Built mostly around rivers and lakes - Tunja, Ropotamo River, lakes in the Rila, Rhodopes, dams Jrebchevo, Sopot, Rositsa, Ivaylovgrad Kalamanitsa, Batak and others;

• Places connected with natural phenomena – Pobiti Kamani, Belogradchishki Skali, Vratsata, Trigradsko Gorge, Erma River Gorge and more; • Holy places /mainly monasteries, chapels, shrines/ - Rila, Melnik, Bachkovski, Dryanovski, Zemenski, Kelifarevski monasteries and others; • National Parks - Pirin , Rila and Stara Planina , Rhodope, Troyan, Murgash and others. ; • Cultural Monuments - Madara Horseman, Karanovska mound, the old capitals and simulation models such as the Etar. Strong invasion of the mass tourism strongly violates the attractive image of some small towns with a distinctive architecture and coloring. In the classification of accommodation facilities the following parameters are used: • Average big village; • Favourable socio - demographic structure of the population; • Preserved architecture and traditions (entirely or partially); • Clean area with beautiful scenery and non- polluting industries in the village; • Existence of well established transport and other infrastructure, including electricity, water suply, good road network, regular bus connection, etc.

Various interesting opportunities to visit or join during the stay, including attractions in the village or nearby, natural phenomena, ethnographic peculiarities, crafts, folklore, opportunities for hunting and fishing, hiking, picnicking and more. According to the statistics in our country there are 5098 villages, of which 2011 have a population of 200 inhabitants. An important motive for the active development of rural tourism is not only the products of the folk art and the way they are made of distinctive local craftsmen - potters, bronze and wood carvers, weavers of rugs, carpets, folk costumes and more, but the means by which all this wealth is created as well - water, natural dyes, the fire of the fireplace, the forge,


the hooks and knitting skewers, the primitive wooden loom. All this can be seen only in the village - in the farmhouse, in the farmyard. On the territory of these villages are organized fairs, folk games and parades – with mummers, for Christmas, for vine-growers, for weddings, etc. Development of sectors such as agriculture, horticulture, viticulture, vegetable farming, is also a subject of attention. Undoubted interest for the Western tourists are the historical and cultural monuments of our nation, the streets in traditional style, old churches, monasteries and mosques.

Crucial to the successful development of rural tourism is the good organization. It is an illusion to believe that individual homeowners or small travel companies can have a lasting market success. They face two options - to rely on limited private contacts or to look for an effective way to reach the tourist. The second option can only be achieved with the help of tour operators and travel agents, which promote the propose tourism product, i. e. what the peasant offers in his own house , in his own garden in his own yard. The tour operator is the one who introduces this product to the client, who wishes to take advantage of rural tourism. By tour operators tourism product offered by those wishing to develop tourism business reaches the client and the specialized market for rural tourism. Besides the tour operator for development of rural tourism contributes BARET, voluntary tourism companies, consulting firms and local authorities.

3.9. Problems in rural tourism • Farmers of old age are not able to perform the necessary contact with the young and can not provide satisfactory services even if they wish. • The hygiene, especially in the maintenance of toilets, bathrooms and courtyards is not at the required level;

• Sometimes the food offered to the tourists do not meet their tastes, particularly the taste of foreign guests. For those tourists who prefer to eat out a major problem is the quality of food. Hygiene of most rural pubs and cafes is beneath any level, there is isn’t any comfort as well;·

• Rural shops are boring, there are no souvenirs, not even ordinary postcards with views of the local area or the local attractions; • Most of the information is in Bulgarian. Local postal services are unsatisfactory and provoke bewilderment in foreign tourists; • Considering most of these problems, some marketing experts argue that for a successful and high quality rural tourism in the country, the government has to establish consistent state politics at first place, and only then to develop local municipal politics. Excessive development of rural tourism leads to some negative effects too. Large accumulation of tourists leads to blurring of rural region’s characteristics. Strong commercialization may cause deterioration of performance, by unifying them and reducing their capacity.

In rural tourism the need to preserve the originality and authenticity opposes the seeking of comfort from the tourist. Simplicity of accommodation and surroundings is attractive and a sign of authenticity, tradition, features and characteristics of a high quality natural product. The difficulty is to achieve a balance between the values of the past and the present demand, between the expectations of the consumers and the real rural reality.


3.10. Laws and regulationsThe development of rural tourism in Bulgaria must be carried out according to a number

of legislative and strategic documents , including:

• Tourism Act; Ordinance for categorization of accommodation places and catering and entertainment places• Law on Consumer Protection• Law on Environmental Protection ;• Biodiversity Act ;• Law on Spatial Planning;• Law on regional development;• Law on Monuments and museums ;• Law on Protection and Development of Culture ;• Law on Ownership and use of agricultural land ;• Forest Act ;• Law on Hunting and Game Protection• Health Act ;• Ordinance № 3 of 15.05.2003 on National Ecolabel scheme.

3.11. National and regional strategic planning documents:• Draft of National Strategy for Sustainable Development of Tourism in Bulgaria 2008-2013;• National Ecotourism Strategy /2004-2013/ and the National Action Plan for ecotourism;• National Strategy for Sustainable Tourism Development in Bulgaria for the period 2008 - 2013;• National Strategic Reference Framework;• Strategy for accelerated economic development of the Republic of Bulgaria;• Strategy for Sustainable Development of the Republic of Bulgaria;• National Strategy for the Conservation of Biological Diversity;• National Development Plan /2007-2013/;• National Strategy for Integrated Development of Infrastructure of the Republic of Bulgaria and Operational Implementation Plan for the period 2006 to 2015;• National Environmental Strategy and National Action Plan for 2005 - 2014 period;• National Plan for Biodiversity; • National Plan for Agriculture and Rural Development 2007-2013;• National Strategic Plan for Fisheries and Aquaculture 2007-2013;• National Programme for Control of Waste;• National Strategy for the management and development of the water sector in Bulgaria 2015;• Programme for Rural Development for the period 2007-2013, the Ministry of Agriculture and Food;• Regional development plans for the areas of planning for 2007-2013;

3.12 SWOT analysis of rural tourism sector in BulgariaStrengths WeaknessesNationally represented and branch There has not been achieved compliance at


organizations BAAT and BARET unite the efforts of those involved in this business and contribute to the formation of active citizenship on the development of rural tourism nationwide. Regional and local organizations - where they are supported by private business and state structures are functioning well and are a major stimulus for the development of rural tourism. An important role play: the departments of the Vratsa Balkan, Vitosha Mountain, Blue Ridge, Ruse Lom, Strandja. Major factor represents organizations and programs such as UNDP, ARE, Peace Corpus, Open Society, Beautiful Bulgaria, SAP ARE, British Know Now Found etc, subsidizing various projects in the fields of training, institutional development, the formation of tourism product studies etc. in the field of specialized tourism. Over 90% of the accommodation and other facilities in the field of tourist services are privately owned. Medium and small business has the advantage to be more flexible and quickly structuring around the ever-changing demands and expectations of customers. Given the macroeconomic environment Bulgaria can still maintain lower prices for packages of specialized rural, countryside, walking, cycling or horse riding tourism. Price of the main and additional services is the main competitive tool.

Currently there are tourism programs for hiking /in the big mountains/, for tours with horses and bicycles, snowshoes and skis. The quality of this product is the reason for Bulgaria to be the leading destination in Eastern Europe in this regard. There are proposals for ornithological tours, accommodation in villages in order tourists to get acquainted with the crafts, folklore and lifestyle /associated with major folk festivals/. Programs with historical, archaeological and cultural activities, as well as "outdoor" activities such as caving, rock climbing and para - gliding, rafting are rare or almost absent. Increasingly common are initiatives by local entrepreneurs with regard to the additional and specialized services - craft demonstration, providing services by local and mountain guides, offering itineraries, tours with horses and bicycles, folklore shows, wine tasting, etc. Alternative forms of rural tourism seek their place in the Internet. There is some information (still incomplete), on the resources and partly on their including in packages. The number of tourism organizations and tourism associations, that have decided to deal with rural tourism is constantly increasing. Tours are created for foreign journalists and tour operators. There is progress in issuing leaflets for the promotion of local and regional tourism product by regional institutions and organizations. In the Internet portal of the Bulgarian tourism /www.bulgariatravel.org/ a serious attention to rural tourism has been paid, brochures and other informational materials have been developed. On the Bulgarian media market new and quality publications have appeared. The concerns and

national level on the development strategy of tourism in general and in particular of rural tourism and on the priority areas and activities.

Throughout the country various travel funds and programs fund local and regional projects, among which however lacks consistency and communication between entities.

Regional associations face problems in activating the local population. Local authorities are insufficiently involved, and in some places they are completely disinterested .

The utilization of resources is insufficient and where the degree of utilization is high, the principles of sustainability and environmental friendliness are not obeyed.The majority of entrepreneurs are improperly oriented on the investment of resources and don’t seek expert advice.

The most common problem for the involved in tourism is the lack of available resources for short-term financing and investment.

General infrastructure - roads, signs, communications, is in poor condition. Data centers are not functioning properly. Extremely complicated is the travel of tourists by public transport within the country, especially in areas away from the main routs.

In mountainous and rural areas where the potential for development of rural tourism is high, the educational and age structure of the population is poor.

Approximately 90% of directly employed in the tourism business have not the necessary qualifications. Foreign language skills are poor, the entrepreneurs and staff do not know the core business mechanisms, the culture of service level is very law, just a small part of the employees use a computer.

The higher education institutions are not paying enough attention to the disciplines associated with alternative forms of tourism.

There are no specialized proffesional training centers in mountainous, rural and eco tourism.

Due to the relatively low cost of the product tourists with low financial capacity prevail.

Limited range of travel products. A small number of tourism organizations and tourism associations .

There isn’t any marketing strategy. The publication of promotional materials is chaotic, the participation in international exhibitions and fairs is week.

There isn’t a common Internet portal for Bulgarian tourism and in particular for rural tourism.


the importance of rural tourism and its alternative forms are being discussed very often recently.

Threats Opportunities Unstable internal and external environment, as

well as confusing and inadequate legal framework are prerequisites for the lack of confidence among the entrepreneurs.

Limited financial resources, and lack of professional competence lead to the provision of services with poor quality, which is likely to create a negative attitude and expectations among potential tourists.

Relatively low price levels threaten to build the image of a "cheap destination" for our country in the field of rural tourism.

Lack of an overall marketing strategy can prevent or delay the introduction of the product of rural tourism in international markets.

Insufficient proposals oriented to the Bulgarian client will intensify the trend of loss of clientele at the expense of neighboring destinations in this tourism.

Excessive use, overloading and resource depletion in some areas threaten with environmental disaster areas of Bansko, Dobrinishte, Popina Laka /Pirin/, Maliovitsa /Rila/, Vitosha .

Major opportunity for the development of rural tourism in Bulgaria represents the still unused and undiscovered natural, cultural and historical resources. Inventories are only made in villages around the natural parks and surrounding areas operating under the JOBS programme (Job Opportunities through Business Support).

A number of programs and projects fund activities directly or indirectly related to tourism. Major role in the development of rural tourism plays SAPARD programme.

Systematic marketing researches and trainings of those involved in the industry will lead to the formation of an integral product in the field of rural tourism. Development of thematic itineraries and trails is a major prospect for the development of various forms of rural tourism.

Introduction of uniform standards of service to tourists and a system of categorization of places for guests in the mountains and villages requires the integration of these places into a single network and the creation of a brand that guarantees quality of tourist services .

The potential of tourists staying at coastal resorts should be used. Through appropriate proposals for rural tourism their stay in the country could be prolonged. The opportunities for yachting, underwater archeology, tours with kayaks and catamarans around rocky shores, visits to the farmhouse, farmyard, our reserves along the Black Sea and the Danube River are not completely used. The same is the situation with the transit travelers. Tours covering the cultural and historical treasures of the Balkan countries are very perspective.

4. UKRAINEAgricultural tourism is a special form of tourism that is different from mass tourism or

recreation, but at the same time it has absorbed certain features of general tourism. Most of this is seen in the so-called rural hotels, rural houses which is taking at the same time quite a number of tourists and have a high level of service. These hotels are in essence not «ahrooseli», but often they consider their work as a rural green tourism or agrotourism (as they are in purely rural areas, although most have developed infrastructure).

Agritourism in the interpretation of Ukrainian scholars and practitioners is often understood as holidays in «ahrooseli» (homes in rural areas). Today, as it has already been noted, there is no clear definition between the terms «rural», «agricultural», «farm», «eco». Agritourism, Rural Tourism – tourism in rural areas: in rural areas, on farms, in convenient peasant homes («ahrooseli»). Tourists have a rural way of life, get acquainted with the local culture and local customs, participate in a traditional rural labor. Agritourism is well developed in Spain, Italy, France, Australia, the USA.


«Ahrooseli» is a form of housing designed for outdoor activities in agritourism. In general, this dwelling, located in a rural area, with not more than five rooms (depending on the type of housing), accessible for tourists belongs to the rights of private property owner who is engaged in agricultural activities or engaged in the service sector or social sector village.

The term «ahrooseli» as the above definition was proposed by the members of Union for the Promotion of rural tourism in Ukraine non-profit public organization. The need to introduce this definition is defined by getting in the legislation of Ukraine some benefits for owners of small homes that provide tourism services with the ability to use incentives as opposed to private mini-hotels.

Rural tourism - a kind of recreational tourism and an active form of recreation in rural areas, potentially interesting for its tourist attractions. The basis of the attractiveness of rural tourism is a complex of factors that favorably affect the person: recreational, aesthetic, educational. Holidays in the countryside – it's not a resort where there are many tourists. There is a state of relaxation, which is supported by positive emotional influence of the surrounding terrain: mountains, forests, rivers, lakes or the sea, the beauty of the landscape and so on. Very often the choice to spend a holiday in the countryside is dominated by the landscape and ecology. Positive social component of rural tourism is to provide rural employment in the service sector in rural areas. Therefore, the development of this trend can be seen as the real path of social development of depressed rural areas which allows you to stop the degradation of the countryside, which suffers from the constant outflow of population, particularly because of unemployment. Services provided under the rural tourism programs usually include:

- accommodation in comfortable private houses;

- meals on request with organic products;

- familiarity with the history of the land;

- gathering in mushrooms and berries;

- participation in traditional ceremonies;

- boating and horseback riding.

Considering the difficult economic situation in the agricultural sector of the country, increasing socialization of domestic tourism, the Government of Ukraine is trying to make steps for a number of government programs and regulations aimed at obtaining additional revenue and small business development in areas not associated with agricultural production. Legal regulation of the market rural tourism falls under the jurisdiction of two departments: the Ministry of Agrarian Policy of Ukraine (MAPU) and the State Agency of Ukraine for Tourism and Resorts (Derzhturyzmkurort Ukraine), which is the central executive body which activities are directed and coordinated by the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine through the Vice Prime Minister of Ukraine – Minister of Infrastructure of Ukraine, which is part of the executive branch and provides implementation of state policy in the sphere of tourism and resorts. The documents that were accepted by them or for their assistance in recent years have


created a specific regulatory framework relating to maintenance activities of rural tourism services. Taking into account that economic and social problems of the village have intensified, widespread and development of agricultural tourism is particularly desirable. The positive impact of agricultural tourism in the socio-economic problems of the village lies primarily in the fact that it expands the scope of employment of the rural population, especially women, and gives farmers extra income, employment opportunities not only in manufacturing but also in services. At a certain accumulation of the number of guests there is a need to meet their various requests, which, in turn, stimulates the development of services: transport, communications, trade, service life, recreational and entertainment facilities and other infrastructure.

4.1 The actual state of agro-tourism in Ukraine.There are more than 15 million people live in Ukrainian villages. Among working-age

population in rural areas there are nearly 3 million people who are employed in individual private households. About 1 million people in rural areas generally never have a job, do not study and only a tenth of them are registered with the Employment Service as unemployed. In addition, the survey showed that over 30 % of rural retirees might serve tourists.

The development of rural tourism in Ukraine restrains poor arrangement of rural households. While the overall housing Ukrainian village is huge - 6.5 million homes but the central water supply includes only 12% of homes, heating with natural gas - 18, and sewers - 7%.

In general, from the total housing villages private sector now can be used for the purpose of settlement of tourists and vacationers up to 30 % of homes with proper sanitary condition. Another 10 % - need minimal maintenance and improvement. One can use for this the investments from EU.

Generally rural green tourism, agricultural tourism and other recreational activities in the country is a rescue for Ukrainian village from collapse, migration of peasants to the cities and work abroad.

An important result of agritourism is empowering sales of personal products not as agricultural commodities but as prepared foods, after appropriate processing and cooking. Experience shows that those families who take tourists improve the structure of crops in home gardens to meet the needs of guests, expanding assortment of vegetables, fruit trees, berries, etc.. They develop and diversify livestock, greenhouses wind farm, are engaged in hunting, beekeeping and fishing.

The development of rural tourism and its species leads to improvement of rural estates, streets, villages as a whole, stimulates the development of social infrastructure. Of course, at first taking tourists is based on the existing housing using local recreational and infrastructural resources. But with some revenues from these activities, those who are engaged in it, starting to make investments in improving municipal resettlement housing, streets. Combined efforts achieve a change for better in the service sector. And this is both a significant contribution to rural development. As an example can be the establishment of local branches of the Union of Rural Green Tourism in Western countries, regional associations interested in developing infrastructure for rural tourism and others.

An important role is played by the development of rural tourism and its components in enhancing the cultural and educational level of the rural population. Preparing to make and serve guests, members of peasant families involuntarily forced to supplement their knowledge of housekeeping, hygiene and sanitation, cooking, etc. Communication with guests expands their horizons, one can make new acquaintances, make friends in other towns.


Rural Green Tourism in Ukraine began to develop intensively in the mid 90 -ies of XX century. But in those days, private rural estates, which would have taken tourists in the whole Ukraine were only a few dozen, but now thousands of them .

The total number «ahrooseli» that takes tourists is very difficult to determine, since most of them (according to different estimates, up to 80-90%) is «in the shadows», that is unregistered. Also the problem of statistics and accounting estates that offer rural green tourism is complicated by the fact that the concept of «Rural tourism» and «ahrooseli» is not defined completely in Ukrainian law. And too often «ahrooseli» is called tourist complexes, which essentially they are not (eg small private hotel in the countryside or even in the cities). So actually, accounting and statistics Rural tourism is not made in full, that prevents from fully determining the extent of this type of tourism. Some monitoring of the quantity and condition of «ahrooseli» held by various NGOs and government district administrations and other government agencies in some regions, although these data are rather designed for the inner workings of the tourism department of the administration, and not for drawing general statistics.

It may be noted that the powerful green tourism develops only in the Carpathians, the Crimea and Kiev regions. In regions of the Carpathians and the Crimea it was caused by the fact that virtually a private holiday in the village existed here for a long time, and was not something new for these areas. These regions were also called the most attractive for tourists from the natural point of view, and they can boast of many attractions, which are absent in other regions of Ukraine.

Green tourism as a tourism product is not finalized, it has not clear image. Most of the population of Ukraine is not aware of rural green tourism and all the possibilities of this type of holiday. People have fragmentary and contradictory information. A typical product of rural tourism, which is available in Ukraine is 2-4 rooms in the farmhouse – without any conditions, with simple furnishings and without a high level of service. The advantages of the product is low price and hospitalitable owners, most affordable and high quality food. In parallel, however, developing another type of rural tourism product can be called elitist vacations in rural well-equipped house with all facilities and very high prices. Such «ahrooseli» are usually located in well-developed recreational areas.

The first years of rural tourism outlined that this process began to fund international donor organizations such as the Foundation of the Carpathian region, «Eurasia», «Renaissance» Foundation RAUSI, TACIS program and others. Their contribution was necessary impetus for the activity. There are many programs of rural tourism that also use donor funds.

Advertising and promotion of rural tourism lies mainly on the Union for Promotion of Rural Green Tourism in Ukraine and on popular science magazine «Tourism village green». This all-Ukrainian non-profit organization held fairs with rural tourism «Ukrainian Village Invites». «Ahrooseli» also presented on tourism and agricultural fairs (although it is mainly only the most advanced «ahrooseli»). Along with the nationwide directory (magazine «Tourism village green») come disparate and often uncoordinated directories by the region. Rural tourism advertising online also needs to be improved.

The authorities have an interest in the development of rural tourism, especially in areas that are traditionally tourist, but a clear program of support and promotion of rural tourism has not been developed. There are always no funds in supporting this activity. «Ahrooseli» is often most interested in working with non-governmental organizations that can support them or advertise them.


Tourist operators (travel agencies) have weak interest in rural tourism (excluding cooperation with elite «ahrooseli») because they have small commissions from such cooperation and «ahrooseli» have not good quality services that would interest customers who order vacation tours.

In our opinion, the main features of rural tourism in Ukraine can be briefly defined as follows:

- the legal framework of rural tourism has not yet been fully determined, as well as finally formed the very concept of rural tourism;

- most houses are «in the shadows»;

- complete statistical activities are not carried out;

- green tourism is better developed in some regions, particularly the Crimea and the Carpathians;

- the development of rural tourism is driven to some extent by the state and especially local government but is too dependent on the activity of non governmental organizations and international aid organizations and funds (grants program, etc.);

- «ahrooseli» that takes tourists is different – from simple, with minimal comfort and moderately priced to very expensive with a full set of services. The question is whether it is possible to determine exactly if the latter can be considered «ahrooseli» because these buildings do not meet the relevant criteria. Classical «ahrooseli» that actively offers rural green tourism (up to five rooms, the owners engaged in agricultural activities or work in the social area) is relatively small;

- there is some cooperation «ahrooseli», government, non governmental organizations and commercial establishments which is not sufficient.

Organizations involved in the development of rural tourism in Ukraine named their main problems:

- lack of institutional development of rural tourism (aborted concepts of rural tourism);

- financial problems of development, lack of interest from the professional tour operators (as rural tourism is inherently denies the lucrative mass tourism);

- lack of organizational, psychological and other skills of the rural population, which takes tourists.

The main problem in the development of rural tourism in Ukraine remains the legal status of this type of tourism. The legislation of Ukraine has not yet determined the concept of rural tourism as an activity. Accordingly, all issues related to rural tourism (eg, taxes, licenses, etc.) are actually not regulated by law. They are contradictory and unclear. This causes a huge part of the black market for rural tourism. «Ahrooseli» in law is actually considered as a private enterprise, and not as a farm (rural house) that does not comply with any of the country where rural tourism is developed to a sufficient level.

There is constantly a mix of concepts in the system of rural and other types of tourism which takes place in rural areas. So often in rural areas develop a system of standard hotels or cottages with appropriate infrastructure and services rather than traditional «ahrooseli». This may contributed to some level of the rural territory but often degrades the whole rural image. Often in such villages arrive too many tourists that may cause damage to the natural ecosystem.


The financial aspect of rural tourism development is not sufficiently considered by the state. It is difficult to get the money (even small) for starting a business, building or upgrading «ahrooseli». Loans from commercial banks are very expensive, a soft loan from the government is almost impossible for a poor peasant.

There is a problem of image. Speaking of a simple traditional village (without developed infrastructure facilities, sports or natural beauty) there comes up a problem how to attract tourists up to there. Ukrainian people often perceive the village as a place to vacation or holiday because many people from the town have relatives in the village or cottage where they occasionally get out and are often engaged in agricultural activities there. So these people are not interested to come to rest with these villages. A traditional village can attract only other relatively small segments of tourists. It should also be noted that most of the population of Ukraine has no money to get vacation anywhere and may be interested in a cheap service. A rustic holiday is often associated with something a bit dull. Foreign tourists who can bring the biggest profit for the rural area are interested only in attractive natural areas (often ski resorts) and bypass these villages. That is also the problem of improving the image.

Service industry provides the basic needs of tourists. It is transportation, communications, healthcare, office items, catering. Trade, communications and catering predominantly developed in almost all ordinary Ukrainian villages but there is a big problem with health care. The qualified medical services can be provided in not all localities. The greatest concern is foreign tourists who are accustomed to receive quality medical care in any settlement of the country. The problem is resolved in some regions of Ukraine. There are training programs for farmers which offer the basics of medical care for tourists.

Transportation primarily includes such features as easy access to the village from the nearest large/regional city, opportunities to travel neighbouring areas and so on. This element can be interpreted in two ways. For most of tourists easy access to the village and the ability to go at any moment is very important but there is a certain category of tourists who wants to come to the remote village away from roads and «civilization» and do not see any vehicles for weeks. To some extent this applies to all elements of the technical infrastructure. For that part of tourists, the nature is more important than convenience and service. Therefore even a small abandoned village also has a chance to attract tourists and make a profit.

Information includes informing tourists in a rural area of recreation opportunities, housing, interesting events and other things related to rural tourism. It should be specific information panels of rural tourism that provides information to tourists.

In Ukraine such a network is not very developed especially in remote regional settlements. In Western countries the role of such information centers often play some local authorities in area/villages or offices of commercial travel companies. Information panels include basic information signs and symbols of rural tourism (advertising «ahrooseli») on the roads within the next towns, etc. It's also not very developed in Ukraine because most «ahrooseli» act illegally or under the guise of «ahrooseli» is advertised a standard hotel in the countryside.

The additional opportunities for summer fun. It refers to a set of additional recreational facilities such as ski rental or boats in the village, coach services in a particular sport or organization horseback riding, etc. For some categories of tourists (especially young people) this part of the infrastructure of the village is very important because everything else in the countryside is not very interesting for them (for example, they came to the village only to ski). Additional services are often well developed in the mountain villages which are popular among skiers and very popular in some areas (for example the seaside). This set often gives the largest income for the settlement especially in certain seasons.


Educational opportunities. Organization of tours and traveling around the countryside associated with historical attractions, interesting cultural sites, natural attractions, etc. It may also include a visit of national parks and other protected areas to acquire certain knowledge or review. This part of the service is most interested for only some groups of tourists especially seniors with specific educational interests or lovers of wildlife areas. This service (especially cultural and historical tours) is better organized for mass tourism and the person who came to have a rest in a small village is not always possible to organize it by themselves but in some areas it is possible especially if they use guides or get some help of local residents. To educational opportunities can be attributed the following aspects related to rural tourism as ethnographic study area, collecting samples of folk art, cultural tourism, etc.

Ukrainian market of inbound rural tourism is not developed and customer demand is insufficiently studied. There are a few firms operating in the domestic sector of rural tourism at the Ukrainian market. For example, according to research in Ukraine, 90% of consumers of rural tourism products in the Ivano-Frankivsk region do not use the services of travel agents and tour operators for organizing their travels. In other areas the picture is about the same.

At present a clear political decision to support rural tourism only crystallizes. There are no state programs and most importantly stable and comprehensive financial support (preferential loans, tax and other benefits). Initiators and propagators of rural tourism project are mainly NGOs. Much useful done in the framework of international projects (eg, Ivano-Frankivsk, Ternopil, and other areas). However, for the formation of the modern sector of the tourism industry it is not enough. The Ukrainian business has paid attention to the existence of this new direction in tourism that in the future can grow in a profitable and efficient sector. The first commercial companies working with farms appear and provide services in this sector.

In some areas the support of the development of rural green tourism is provided by regional and district authorities. Acquired some experience such as: «boardinghouse», «tour with accommodation in a traditional dwelling», «Cultural Village», «Countryside» and so on. However, the work in this sector has just begun and its scope, methods of organization and funding does not allow saying that rural tourism has real competitiveness in modern tourist industry.

In terms of «price-quality» Ukrainian rural tourism product is not yet able to compete on the international market. The main focus for the Ukrainian sector should be on domestic tourism that does not exclude the development of some unique and high-quality tourism products that is specifically bound to the external market. International experience of many European countries where rural green tourism has a great development shows that it is mainly domestic tourism sector (eg, Italy, Germany, France, Poland).

In order to improve the organization of rural tourism and its species such as agro-tourism, taking into account the significant historical and ethnographic differences and a large area of the country, the management should include the following areas of rural tourism and its components:

- West (Carpathian) in the Transcarpathian, Lviv, Ivano-Frankivsk and Chernivtsi regions. This area is noted for especially unique mountain and foothill landscapes. Carpathians have great recreational resources (mineral water, healthy mountain air, great opportunities for winter tourism and sports, beautiful nature, the presence of national parks, nature reserves, a large number of unique monuments of nature – the Synevyr lake, the Dovbush’s rock, Narcissus Valley, etc.) The rich history of the region especially in agriculture, unique cultural and historical traditions and ethnic characteristics (Hutsul, Bukovina, Galicia, Rusyn, Lemko), household structure and organization of the whole mountain «ahrooseli», crafts, original and interesting architecture are of great interest to residents of all other regions of the country. This is the place where rural tourism and agrotourism gained considerable expansion and has significant experience in managing them;


- Polessye in the Volyn, Rivne, Zhytomyr, Chernihiv regions. The nature of this regions has numerous lakes, forests, mushroom and berry places. Agricultural activity is more pronounced than in the Carpathian region and is the basis for rural residents. For tourists in the village will be interesting the leisure opportunities, participation in agricultural work (such as hay), attractive hospitality and sincerity, interesting ethnic features in the organization of everyday life, folk rituals, etc.;

- Podillya in the Ternopil, Khmelnitsky and Vinnitsa regions distinguished by beautiful nature of Podolsk Upland, Tovtry, the canyon of the river Dniester, great historical and cultural heritage (including forts, castles, places of religious tourism), especially rural life and agricultural activities;

- The central Ukraine in the Kiev, Poltava, Cherkasy, Kirovograd regions. Rural communities traditionally engaged in agriculture and rural tourism is less developed. But the potential for it is very great – natural, historical and socio- economic. This area is territorial and organizational basis for the formation of the Ukrainian nation. There are a preserved park and architectural ensembles of the past (in Trostyantse, Uman, White Church). For tourists will be interesting Shevchenko’s places, places associated with the activities of other famous people of the country. Feature of the region is the presence and proximity of potential tourists – residents of Kyiv and foreigners that mainly concentrated in the capital. Wealth natural and recreational potential, a large number of historical monuments, revived the tradition. Comparable proximity to major industrial centers contributes to the development of rural tourism in the Central Region. The region is attractive for all types of rural tourism and agro-priority recreational tourism;

- Eastern Region – Sumy and Kharkiv oblasts. There is also a beautiful nature, but because of the predominance of urban life the rural traditions remained lower. Rural tourism will be interesting primarily to residents of Kharkiv and Sumy;

- Pridneprovye (the Dnipropetrovsk and Zaporizhia regions) is known as the industrial area. Countryside plays a significant there. Therefore, it can be used as the territory to spend weekends for the residents of industrial cities. It will also contribute to the revival of Cossack rich history of the region, customs and traditions;

- the Donetsk and Lugansk regions are also a home to a large number of urban population and its density is one of the largest in Ukraine - 130-150 people/km2. In such conditions with low solvency of the population we can expect the demand for low-cost travel services in rural areas including weekend tours to harvest crops and the provision of environmental friendly and high-quality food products.

- South Black Sea region includes the Odessa, Kherson, Mykolayiv regions, the Autonomous Republic of Crimea. The proximity of the Black Sea and Sea of Azov, nice warm climate contribute to the development of recreation and rural tourism. A huge historical and cultural heritage of Southern coast of Crimea, beautiful and ancient mountain village is the basis for rural tourism.

In our study we consider the current state of the agro-tourism in these four regions of Ukraine - Carpathians, Crimea, the Kherson and Zaporizhzhya regions.

4.1.1 CarpathiansIn Ukraine is formed an official approach to defining the Carpathian region taking into account:

the natural landscape features of the region, ethno-cultural features and advanced features of the administrative and territorial division of land in the region. On this basis in 1999 was decided to integrate various public and entrepreneurial efforts Lviv, Ivano-Frankivsk, Transcarpathian and Chernivtsi regions in order to develop a holistic competitive recreational and tourist complex in the


Carpathian region. The Carpathian region of Ukraine is composed of four administrative areas within the mountain system of Ukrainian Carpathians.

Green tourism and eco-tourism is a prominent tourism sector of the Carpathian region. The Carpathian region should be regarded in aspect of territory administrative regions.

Lviv – is one of the biggest tourist destinations in Ukraine which has an area of 21.8 thousand km2 (3.6 % of Ukraine). In size it ranks 17th among regions of the state. The population of the region on 1.02.2011 was 2,525,532 persons (rural - 1,002,460 people), the population density – 116 people per km2. There is high forest cover, more than 400 objects of nature conservation, including Sanctuary «Roztochya», National Parks Yavorivskyi and «Skole Beskydy», 23 nature reserves, 240 natural monuments, 55 parks – monuments of landscape architecture. There is a potential for the development of agro-tourism in the villages of Maidan Urich, Krushelnytsya, Pidhorodtsi, Korchyn, Sopit, Zavadka, Rosokhach, Sychiy potik.

The Ivano-Frankivsk region has an area of 13.9 thousand km2, which is 2.3 % of Ukraine. The population of the region on 1.02.2011 was 1,376,891 persons (rural - 785,876 people), the population density - 110 people per km2. In the Ivano-Frankivsk region there are 147 protected funds. Among them there are large mountain forest reserves «Sadku», «Dzhurdzhivskyy», «Kniazhdvir», «Skeet Manyavsky», the largest in the Carpathian National Nature Park and the National Park «Hutsul», State Reserve «Gorgan». There are the most famous resorts: lowland Kosiv, Tatar, Yaremcha, Vorohta and balneomud foothill Cherche.

The area of the Transcarpathian region is 12.8 thousand km2 (2.1 % of Ukraine). The population of the region on 1.01.2011 was 1,244,678 persons (rural - 786,029 people), the population density - 100 people per km2. Transcarpathia is one of the richest historical and cultural monuments of Ukraine. In total the region has about 415 protected fund of the total area of 1.54 thousand km2. Among them there are International Biosphere Reserve «Eastern Carpathians», Carpathian Biosphere Reserve, Carpathian National Nature Park, «Synevyr», 38 preserves, 349 natural monuments, 160 spa resorts and guest houses, holiday homes and tourist hotels.

The Chernivtsi region has good prospects of rural tourism. The beauty of Carpathians nature, ethnographic possibilities, hospitality of the local population is the main determinants of rural tourism development in mountain areas. There are 286 protected areas and facilities including 7 Sanctuaries, 8 natural monuments of national importance and 136 natural monuments, 40 parks - monuments of landscape architecture and 39 natural reserves of local importance in Bukovina.

Traditional labor surplus in mountain and foothill areas of the region - Storozhynets, Vizhnitsky, Putyla areas - defines crafts and tourist recreation organization in the Carpathians as a priority economic development in this region. These regions also hold the primacy of the number of private farms of rural tourism. Today that number is over 75.

Co-financed by the German company the project «Creation of preconditions for the implementation of the cluster model of eco-tourism farms in Bukovina» has been developed. It is within the project 21 new «ahrooseli» were created, designed routes «Raisins of Bukovina», «Walk the paths of the old Slavic Bukovina».

In Ukraine most tourists choose Carpathian village: Yablunitsa, Tatar, Verhovina, Lazeshchyna, Vorohta, Yasinya, Skole which are located in the most picturesque areas of the Carpathians. The cost of the holiday is often understated. For example, a week-long vacation with breakfast and dinner costs only $250-350, while a week in the European countryside is an average of EUR 700-800. In Lithuania you can rent a house in the village for EUR 60-75 per day.


A distinctive feature of both - the world and Ukrainian rural tourism is functioning without intermediaries. The only advertisment for yards which take tourists are stories of people who have been there as well as ads on specialized sites.

There are other causes of rapidly developing rural green tourism in the Carpathians. Firstly, Western Ukraine adopted appropriate experience from Poland and Romania where green rural tourism rapidly develops. Besides, there is often simply no other work in mountainous areas. Therefore, people use the smallest opportunity to make something especially if someone in the area is already dealing with something similar.

As for the Carpathian region only in Ivano-Frankivsk region more than 500 private estates deal with green tourism. Most are located in Kosiv, Verchovyna, Yaremchanski and Rozhnyativ areas. Very popular areas for recreation are around Slavska near Lviv, where there is powerfully developed rural green tourism. In general, in the Lviv region, there are about 200 «ahrooseli», the biggest quality of them in Skolivsky district.

The rural tourism depends on seasons: summer is a season for «ahrooseli» in the Crimea and some «ahrooseli» in the Carpathian Mountains, winter is the season for the Carpathian «ahrooseli». Very few «ahrooseli» develop services for the off-season which could attract tourists all year round.

In 2011 the NGO «My house - Karpaty» (Ivano-Frankivsk) conducted a number of activities within the project «Library as a center of rural tourism in mountain areas» with the support of anti-crisis program of the International Humanitarian Fund «Revival», organized for farmers training.

4.1.2 Crimea.Green tourism in the modern sense is originated in the Crimea in 1995 after the Law of Ukraine

«On tourism» in which environmental (green) tourism was legalized as one of the types of tourism. After 18 years we can say that green tourism in Crimea is still in its infancy. This is confirmed by the situation in the tourism sector. A significant number of Ukrainian tourists (97%) did not consider the Crimea as a place of green tourism. In Crimea with the rural population of 730 thousand people, function a few rural tourism farmsteads, the majority of which are in the central area of the Crimea (the Simferopol, Bakhchisaray, Belogorsky, Kirov regions). North and north-western regions of the Crimea is a tourist desert - there are almost absent rural tourism.

«Green» tourism on a peninsula offers a standard set of services: an accommodation in a rustic house, food (mostly ethnic cuisine), bath, observation of pets and their feeding, walking or horseback riding along the outskirts of the village, hunting, fishing, harvesting, traditional classes crafts. However, even cooking for guests, not to mention the other services, does not suggest a quarter of estates. Quality of service does not meet their cost, although 95 % of the tourists say that they have a happy holiday. This kind of eco-tourism in Crimea rather should be called a «rustic hospitality». There is a lack of tourist infrastructure (transport connection, normal roads, parking lots, drainage, hot and cold water, etc.). In this case rural hospitality could be seen as the first stage of the development of green tourism.

In 1998 in the Crimea was organized the first NGO to support green tourism – Union for Promotion of Rural Green Tourism. The main goal of this organization was to promote recreation in the countryside. Achieving this goal is planned to be carried out by solving a number of problems including: the revival and development of folk in the Crimea, promoting social development of the village, protecting the environment and settle the environmental problems of peninsula, teach to respect the beauty of the native land.


Since 2006 there is the Association of Crimean rural tourism. First Republic (official) program of development and support of green tourism in Crimea was adopted in 2007 under the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine dated 03.07.2006 «On approval of a plan of state support for the development of rural tourism in 2006-2010». According to this program the development of eco-tourism in Crimea the Republican Budget supposed to allocate UAH 1,280,000 [Ordinance of the Verkhovna Rada of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea 19.09.2007, # 572-5/07 «About program of rural development and rural tourism in the Autonomous republic of Crimea in the Years 2007-2010»]. In the four years is planned an increase in the number of registered rural households for 250 units which will be organized as «ahrooseli» for tourists and an increase in the number of farmers, registered entrepreneurs who created a mini-hotel for 150 units.

Within this program in several districts of Crimea were prepared their own programs of eco-tourism. Unfortunately, for various reasons all the Program activities were not fulfilled and most of them were assessed by owners of rural estates (in terms of effectiveness) at a low rate. But the mere appearance of such a document type as a program support confirms the interest of the state in the development of eco-tourism in Crimea.

Promoting the development of rural tourism in Crimea at the state level provides by:

- the Supreme Council of the Autonomous Republic;

- Ministry of Resorts and Tourism;

- Ministry of Agrarian Policy of the ARC.

Organized and run public organizations which unite the rural estate:

- Black Sea union of rural tourism;

- Crimean Association of Rural Tourism;

- Slow Food of the Crimea.

The above organizations determine rural communities to focus more on the improvement of rural settlements, transport infrastructure reform, restoration of local cultural institutions, environmental cleanliness of the environment and the solution of urgent social and economic problems of the village through additional revenues to the budgets.

4.1.3 KhersonThe uniqueness of the steppe in the Kherson region is sufficiently discussed today by

professional tourism industry. A great interest is creating for children and families in the style of an Indian village known as the farm «Belozerye» (Belozersky district), etnostylistyka and animation of «Chaika» (Golopristansky district), presentation of detailed developments of exotic diving school in the village Khorly (Kalanchak district) and national culinary workshops in Kalanchak «Pearl». Development of recreation in the style of «Desert Island» called «Bird Island» offers striking exotic natural features and an environmental component. In Chaplinka (Askaniya Nova) the «ahrooseli» of Lyudmila has amazing perfection and is marked not only by the presence of exclusive dishes but also a set of branded services. The language dialect in Hryhorivka (estate «Sivash breeze») in Chaplinsky area will also be interesting.

Adopting experience of Britain in the tourism market allowed to systematize the idea of rural tourism in a new way in the region. There were proposed such images for «ahrooseli»: v. Tokarevka, estate «Belozerye» - «Dnepr is the best in any weather!»; Hola Pristan town, «ahrooseli» «Seagull» - «The soul equilibrium and positive attitude to the life»; «ahrooseli» «Nicole» - «Fantastic fishing


village idyll,» «ahrooseli» «Oberig» - «Discover Kherson for yourself »; «taste of Poltava in Varenichki Kalanchak», «Feel the Ukrainian sincerity and positive energy»; «Feel the life with a touch of the sea and others.

One of the most active local organizations, which for many years have been making sustained efforts towards the promotion and development of rural tourism as a form of economic activity in Ukraine is the Kherson NGO «League of Business and Professional Women» which was established in 2001. Since its inception of the League performs coordinating functions and organization of the implementation of many projects with the assistance of international funds and developed and undertook a number of educational and other activities in the field of rural tourism.

Thus, under the «Business incubator to develop eco-tourism in the Tauride steppe culture» they introduced a training module with five cycles of seminars focused on the development of rural tourism in the Kherson region which attended 120 people and received certificates of completion. A 25 rural tourism «ahrooseli» were created. A textbook «Green tourism from «A» to «Z». A system of categorization of estates - green tourism «Cauchy Tavrii» or «Crib of Tavriya».

The project «Overcoming unemployment and development of women's entrepreneurship in green tourism» (2008) introduced a training module which contains five steps considering entrepreneurship and rural tourism. Participants of the training module - 73 women who lost their jobs were trained and received certificates and a chance to open microbusiness by using its own resources. Also, 300 people received information how to plan and manage in rural tourism.

The project is supported by the Ukrainian Women's Fund. The project «Promotion of employment among rural youth and entrepreneurship development in rural green tourism» (2009 ) was aimed at solving the problem of unemployment of rural youth by starting a business in a rural green tourism. The project was a basic training module for the development of this area and helped to become a self-employed for rural youth in the area.

In the pilot project of anti-crisis «From hopelessness - to action» (2009 - 2011 years),which was developed in cooperation with experts of regional employment center were introduced the training courses in «Basics of Garden and Landscape Design» for unemployed women who lost their jobs due to the crisis, owners of estates. Four individual training courses (70 hours each). Fifty women received new skills of gardening and landscaping skills. Courses and are currently ongoing.

Thus, in 2007, Kherson Regional State Administration adopted (resolution number 1227 of 17.09.2008 ) regulations on the voluntary categorization of private households engaged in rural tourism according to the system criteria «Cauchy Tavriya» in the Kherson region. For the definition of the symbol was selected a «basket» and the quality of farms counted from one to five baskets. Named system was never implemented in practice and Regulations lost power.

Due to a participation of the League in number of projects and programs in the Kherson region and its active cooperation with state and local governments there had been taken a number of important measures, including:

- in the strategic plan of the Kherson region till 2015 for the first time was introduced as operational objective the development of industry of rural tourism;

- the specialized system of categorization of rural households was engaged in rural tourism called «Cauchy Tavrii» which is recommended for use by state executive in the field of tourism;

- created Regional Business Incubator of Rural Tourism in Kherson;


- conducted business polygon «Taurian litnyk», give the start for farms «Belozerye», «Red Lakes», «Kalina Islands», «Generous spring», «Zbur'yivski spawn» and so on.

There was suggested a sole strategy «Kherson - the center of Ukrainian Black Sea, the standard of integrity and purity, the European center of the unique steppe culture, sustainable economic development, quality of life and hospitality of the inhabitants».

According to the educational activities the real quantity of «agroosel» has been increased by 29 units. Seminars and trainings covered more than 200 people from rural areas of Kherson.

4.1.4 Zaporizhzhya regionTaken together a variety of factors such as resources, environmental, economic, political and

several others that determine the development of recreation and tourism industry one can distinguish the main which is resources since it determines the feasibility and effectiveness of recreation and tourism in the area through the mobilization complex of man-made and mainly natural resources.

At the national accounting there are 8031 historical cultural monuments including 1677 monuments of history, 6276 monuments of archaeology, 78 - monumental art.

To the State Register of Cultural Heritage of Ukraine belong 18 region sites, 8 archaeological monuments (monuments of national cultural heritage - the remains of settlements, burials, mounds, burial mounds Rope-Grave and the Popovsk tomb in Berdyansk district; Kulyab-Grave in Michajlovske; Solokha and Mamaj mountain in Kamyansko-Dnieper, Cymbals graves in Velykobilozerskomu areas and archaeological complex of monuments «Bald Mountain» in Vasilevsky area and four places of the history (including the Dniproges).

Three Parks: National Park «Khortytsya», state historical and cultural reserve «Stone Grave» (Melitopol), historical-architectural Museum-Reserve «Manor of Popov» (Vasilevka).

The Zaporizhzhya region has a unique economic and geographic position. Southern border is washed by the Sea of Azov. The coastline within the area is more than 300 km. The river Dnepr (the third largest river in Europe) covers the north- western part of the region and has Kahovsky and Dnieper reservoirs, three medium-sized rivers (River Molochna, Konka, Haychur) and 118 small rivers with 28 reservoirs and 849 ponds.

Spa and recreation areas constitute almost 15 % of the area. Within the region are explored and used mineral water and mud almost all known spa types. In health and medicine purposes is widely used wax and speleotherapy. According to the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine from 28.12.96 # 1576 the next regions are attributed to the resort areas: p. Novokonstantynivka with. Stroganovka (the Azov region), Primorsk, Kyrylivka (Yakymivskyy district). According to the law adopted by the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine of 11.01.2005 # 2305 -IV; Berdyansk city has received the status of a resort of national importance.

The Zaporizhzhya region has 310 territories and objects of protected areas including national reserve «Khortytsya», branch of the Ukrainian Steppe Reserve «Stone Tombs». Within the reserve «Khortytsya» is located the state geological reserve «Dnipro Rapids» total area of 1,383 hectares which belongs to the natural reserve fund of Ukraine. A unique feature of the island – are its landscapes which include all geographic areas of Ukraine - from the steppe to the mountains. From 1052 species of plants 657 belong to wild, 11 of them listed in the Red Book of Ukraine, 41 - relict and endemic plants.

There is a Conservation Area «steep Kakhovsky reservoir « area of 522 ha and «Tract Bilozirske « 390 hectares to be created.


Ethnic and cultural potential: there are nine regional centers of Cossack organizations numbering over seven thousand Cossacks. There is a regional target program aimed at introducing an effective mechanism for cooperation between government and Cossack community organizations to develop historical, patriotic, spiritual and cultural traditions of the Cossacks.

Traditionally in Zaporizhzhya were held cultural events of international and regional importance. The development and promotion of amateur art: All-Ukrainian Festival of Performing Arts («Khortytsya Chords», Regional round of folk dance of P. Virsky, Festival Brass and pop music «Tavriysky trumpet» in Melitopol, festival of children's pop art «Top Top» in Berdyansk), International festival («Jazz forum» in Berdyansk, spiritual singing in Zaporizhzhya, Film Forum «Brigantine»); regional festival «Poetic May». There are nationwide art events «Ukrainian napkin» of Ukrainian folk mistress Vera Royik and «Towel of the national unity». Such national measures may serve as an additional incentive for eco-tourism enthusiasts to choose the Zaporizhzhya Region area.

In the region acts the department of tourism of Zaporizhzhya Regional State Administration which is implementing the state policy in the sphere of culture and arts, cultural heritage, tourism, resorts, preserving and developing the traditions and culture of the Ukrainian nation, ethnic, cultural and linguistic identity of people and national minorities. It is involved in international projects in the field of culture, tourism, resorts and Cultural Heritage. It organizes and conducts national and international exhibitions, fairs, methodical and scientific seminars, conferences and more.

In the Zaporizhzhya region there are such tourist information centers:

- Zaporizhzhya regional tourist information center in «Zaporizhzhya Regional Museum». There one can find the information about the houses of Rural Green Tourism in the Zaporizhzhya region (31 «agrooseli»). It gives tourists a variety of additional services (http://www.zotic.zp.ua/);

- Berdyansk tourist information center based on private enterprise «Agency of Travels Sport Plus»;

- Berdyansk electronic tourist information center (http://www.kurort-berdyansk.com/);

- Tourist Information section «Vasilevsky center of culture and leisure» (Vasilevsky district);

- Regional Tourist Information Center (Melitopol district, village Mirnoe);

- Azov Tourist Information Centre at the Azov district museum.

Department of Culture and Tourism of the Kuibyshev district administration prepared 7 leaflets about tourist sites and routes developed - Kuybyshevsky area and route to local battles of the 18th Army in the villages of Green Grove, Oleksiivka and Smirnov. The district of Local History Museum suggests new tourist excursions taking into account the nature reserve fund of historical and cultural sites under the name «The uniqueness of south steppe». Tourist facilities are widely used for organizing and conducting summer travel and health campaigns. In the central district library the permanent tourist information booth is situated where one can get some information about attractive tourist facilities of the district and the region.

Although according to the Department of Culture and Tourism in Zaporizhzhya region 31 private agrooseli take guests but actually it is outdated information, some estates are closed and some are opened. According to our observations, the number of houses that unofficially host guests a lot more, especially in the coastal areas of the region. This is typically not the museum clay cottages and modern renovated houses. Some two or three stories with a restaurant, sauna, billiards. They look more like mini-hotels. The number of houses that are specially decorated in ethnic style just a few.


Unlike Western Ukraine the green tourism in the Zaporizhzhya region is at an early stage of development. Neither the authorities nor the population are not ready, says the head of Zaporizhzhya Union for Promotion of Rural Green Tourism Natalia Bernaha.

Green tourism in the Zaporizhzhya region offers visits to local attractions such as national historic-archeological reserve «Stone Grave» in Melitopol, State historic-architectural Museum-Reserve «Manor Popov» in Vasilevka, grave of Cossack chieftain Ivan Sirko, location of Hortytskkoyi, Tomakivsky, Pokrovskoyi and Chortomlyk Sich at Nikopol. It organized the hydrotherapy with healing springs and mud of Azov therapy. It is possible to hunt ducks, hares, foxes and wild boars in hunting areas, especially in Kuibyshev district.

Department of Culture and Tourism of Zaporizhzhya Regional State Administration, Zaporizhzhya Regional Tourist Information Centre and the NGO «Zaporizhzhya Regional Tourist Association» jointly issued the «Tours of Zaporizhzhya» dedicated to the European Football Championship in 2012, where one can find dozens of hiking trails to different places of the Zaporizhzhya region. The time of traveling and the language of the tour are indicated as well as travel agency where one can book this excursion.

In the summer of 2012 in Tokmak opened the scenic estate «Ukrainian court of nineteenth century» with a smithy, a water mill, a pond, a windmill, a stylized church, museum items of the nineteenth century. It attempts to collect all the crafts that were in the Southeast region, a collection of towels for wedding ceremonies, folk traditions of healing with herbs. There were organized workshops on embroidery, woodcarving, basket weaving, blacksmithing. Also you can live in an old village and sleep on the stove, take part in vechornytsyah.

Fishing tourism as a form of greet tourism is very popular in the Zaporizhzhya region. It is organized at the Sea of Azov (Azov and Berdyansk district), on the Dnieper River and specially stocked ponds throughout the area. In vil. Saltychiya of the Chernigov region there is a big complex established for fishermen. There is parking, cabins for accommodation, a comfortable place for fishing carp, grass carp, silver carp, catfish.

The Azov region is unique in its possiblility to combine rural tourism with the rest on the seaside, fishing, treatment and tours. Novokonstantynivka has the «Sea Breeze»: resorts of hot spring - one of the wonders of the Zaporizhzhya region. Foreigners and citizens are happy living in a rural estate where in the morning you can see how people milk cows, drink fresh milk, and then head out to sea, catch the bullfish, swim, eat soup for lunch and pick up for yourself a watermelon in the garden. Accommodation costs are only 40 hrn., homemade 3 times meals cost 100 hrn.. In a vil. Chkalovo of Azov district the home of the world famous traveler Fyodor Konyukhova was renovated. Tourists from different countries stop there, even more foreigners among them. This year will work route «the small homeland of Konyukhov». It may be one of the most popular trails in the area. In Melitopol area one can relax near by the river, in the woods: Estate «Rose Alley» in v. Mirnoe, «Pine Amber» in v. Sosnivka.

A promising eco-tourism direction in the Zaporizhzhya region can be the rest near apiaries and the rehabilitation there. The applicable apitherapy and sleep on the hives can be used. The Zaporizhzhya region has long been famous for honey and bee products that are useful for the treatment of many human diseases. Melitopol in Greek means «honey.» Sergey Usenko, a villager from Small Tokmachka that in the Zaporizhzhya region in cooperation with scientists from Zaporizhzhya State Medical University conducted research on health in the apiary. The results were stunning: the pressure is stabilized and it helps the treatment of respiratory tract. The Manor of Sergey Usenka «Honey House» has an apiary with 270 hives, wooden house for sleep and treatment. Guests also can live in a traditional house, located nearby. There are seeded honey and medicinal herbs that are very fragrant.


You can also just walk around the garden apiary, breathe, to become healthier in the houses on the hives. You can twist medogonku and get yourself your own sweet honey. There is a physician staff who will consult you with apitherapy. There is a very well designed website of the estate where one can find such information that the owners have been trained at the Kiev National University of Life and Environmental Sciences of Ukraine under the «Green tourism» program.

There are etnohouses in the Albanian and Bulgarian style in the Primorsk region but this trend is not very popular. If we want that the green tourism really develops we must convince the local government that green tourism actually helps self-employment and rural development. We should also promote the green tourism among the rural population.

The trainings were conducted for the unemployed persons in the placement service. Experts talked about the green tourism, gave examples, organized study tours to the owners of agrooseli in Kherson, Bakhchisarai. Today it is possible to get free education in Kiev under the state program «rural green tourism». This year in Zaporizhzhya region were trained 3 people, 2 will go on courses in the summer.

The problem of rural tourism in Ukraine is the lack of local development programs in this area, lack of communication and socio-technical infrastructure in the regions. Also hindering the development of eco-tourism in Ukraine the tough business environment, the lack of legal protection and preferential loans, tax burden. Agrooseli work mainly in summer, so there is no sense for farmers to become private entrepreneurs and paying taxes and fees all year round.

4.2 Legislative regulation.New perspectives for the development of this activity will provide the Law of Ukraine «On

rural ecotourism», the project of which was registered in the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine. In the first draft of the Law of Ukraine are legislated such terms as «eco- village», «rustic ecotourists (traveller)», «services in rural ecotourism» and others.

The positive thing for the development of agro-tourism at the regional level is the definition of responsibilities of local authorities and executive authorities in the field of rural tourism as well as sources of funding for this activity. A separate section in the draft law is dedicated to the features of taxation in rural tourism. Thus, it is proposed to exempt farmers that provide tourists stay in their own homes up to 8 people. But under current law the tax issues are governed by the laws of taxation. We consider it appropriate that the issue of taxation of rural ecotourism will take into account in the Tax Code of Ukraine.

Legal status of rural tourism in Ukraine is not defined, and it is a challenge to the development of this activity as workers often understood the definition of rural tourism differently and mean different things. And also a lack of clear legal framework hinders the creation of economic development strategies of this type of tourism, support programs and assistance.

Green tourism is a legitimate activity. Green tourism is recognized as a separate form of tourism development which has a priority in the state policy (articles 4 and 6 of the Law of Ukraine «On Tourism», # 324 from 15.09.1995, the right of private households engaged in rural green tourism is defined in Article 1 of the Law of Ukraine «On a personal farm», # 742 from 15.05.2003).

Green tourism as an activity that is not related to business, including the provision of accommodation and food for tourists. These services can be provided by any person without additional permission. If you want to show tourists some local attractions or natural sites then you require special education and permission to provide these services (travel support).


Key problems in the legislative and legal issues of green tourism in Ukraine can be defined as follows:

- undefined legal status of green tourism;

- bureaucratic procedures for inspection and registration;

- most part of the «black market»;

- poor incentive for the development of green tourism, in particular, no special line of soft loans for small homes. It is difficult to find money to start or expand businesses;

- lack of experience of owners in legal and legislative matters;

- difficult to get legal advice.

4.3 Formal and informal standards for green tourism.There is a national system of standardization in the field of tourism in order to protect the

interests of consumers and the state, to provide security, life and health, protection of property and the environment; to provide classification of tourism resources of Ukraine that ensures their protection, the establishment of maximum permissible loads on the cultural heritage and the environment, improves the quality of goods and services to meet the needs of consumers, ensures the safety of tourist visits, taking into account the risk of natural and man-made disasters and other emergencies, interchangeability and compatibility of goods and services, their unification.

Regulations on standardization in the field of tourism can be divided into:

- common standards that are implemented in all spheres of public life and the economy (eg, standards containing requirements for the construction and operation of capital construction, industrial and food products, sanitary requirements for water quality standards for quality control of production processes, etc.);

- specific standards for the production and provision of tourist services.

Ukraine has introduced a voluntary labeling in the field of rural tourism «Ukrainian guest house». It has four categories which are indicated by appropriate signs. A sign «Ukrainian guest house» includes the composition of the phrase in the Ukrainian language - «Ukrainian hospitable farmstead» and in English – «Ukrainian guest house» and graphic symbol, which depicts a Ukrainian hut. The hut has one, two or three flowers.

The sign has four categories of accommodation:

- basic (lowest ) - denoted without flowers;

- first - a flower;

- second - two flowers;

- third (best) - three flowers.

A sign entitles farmers to report about an appropriate quality housing and services level in advertisements and set fee that is compared with its category. This sign is available in the Union for


Promotion of Rural Green Tourism in Ukraine and can be used as a marketing tool to increase the popularity of the house.

A sign «Ukrainian guest house» is provided to the houses that meet certain requirements. A sign granted for a period of two years, as certified by the appropriate certificate.

On January 1, 2012 84 estates from 16 regions were certificated:

- basic (lowest) level - 46 estates;

- first - 10;

- second - 17;

- the third (top) - 11.

The program of voluntary categorization in rural tourism «Ukrainian guest house» (hereinafter - the «Program») and demands for it made on the basis of the Law of Ukraine «On tourism», international standards for tourist excursions and similar standards of countries that are the members of the European Federation of Agriculture and farm tourism - EUROGITES (Austria, Ireland, Germany, Poland, Hungary, Sweden, Switzerland, Czech Republic).

Requirements for voluntary categorization are developed in accordance with the requirements of ISO 4268:2003 «Touristic services. Accommodation facilities. General requirements», regulations and basic standards of individual and collective non hotel accommodation facilities of European countries and Ukraine.

Objective: development of different forms of settlements in rural estates, improving the quality of integrated tourist services, providing accommodation services and to promoting rural development in Ukraine.

In developing of this program were included the following regulatory legal acts:

- Law of Ukraine «On Tourism», # 324/95 of 15.09.1995;

- Law of Ukraine «On Personal farm», # 742 from 15.05.2003;

- Law of Ukraine «On Protection of Personal Data», # 2297 of 01.06.2010;

- Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers «On approval of the provision of temporary accommodation», # 297 of 15.03.2006;

- Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers «On approval of the rescue measures at the sites of tourist visits», # 507 from 27.05.2009;

- Order of the State Tourism Administration and the State Statistics Committee «On approval of the method of calculating the volume of tourism», # 142/ 394 dated 12.11.2003;

- GOST 12.1.003-83 SSBT. Noise. General requirements for security;

- GOST 12.1.036-81 SSBT. Noise. Appropriate levels in the premises and buildings;

- GOST 12.1.004-91 SSBT. Fire Safety. General requirements;

- Standard 17.1.3.13-86 Nature protection. Hydrosfera. General requirements for the protectoin of waters from pollution;


- GOST 2874-82 Drinking water. Hygienic requirements and control of quality;

- GOST 28681.1-95 Tourist-excursion services. Designing of tourist services;

- GOST 28681.2-95 Tourist-excursion services. Tourist services. General requirements;

- GOST 28681.3-95 Tourist-excursion services. Requirements for safety of tourists;

- GOST 30523-97 Services of the public nutrition. General requirements;

- DBN 360-92 Urban Development. Planning and development of urban and rural settlements;

- DBN V.2.2 -9 -99 Buildings. Public buildings and facilities. Key provisions;

- ISO 4268:2003 Touristic services. Accommodation facilities. General requirements;

- ISO 4269:2003 Touristic services. Accommodation facilities. Classification of hotels;

- ISO 4527:2006 Touristic services. Accommodation facilities. Terms and Definitions;

- SNIP 2.04.01-85 Inner water supply and sewage;

- SNIP 2.04.05-91 Heating, ventilation and air conditionin;

- SNIP 11-12-77 Sanitary standards and rules. Protection from noise;

- SNIP 23-05-95 Natural and artificial light.

The Sign provided for a period of three years and certified by the appropriate certificate. This sign can be used as a marketing tool to increase the popularity of the house.

The categorization of accommodation is on a voluntary basis and at the request of the owner of accommodation or persons authorized by him. The owner adds the application with characteristics of estate and house plan. The quality of accommodation services for the average consumer in rural green tourism is inseparable from environmental factors. Only a Ukrainian village is currently able to provide residents of big cities who are the main target group of consumers of tourism services in rural areas of Ukraine with an eco-friendly holiday.

Environmental component of quality of rural tourism is very important, because in the minds of most potential users the holidays in the countryside are associated with an outdoor recreation and provides a clean and attractive environment, organic food, eco-oriented recreational activities. No wonder that rural tourism is often also called green tourism. The vast majority of agritourism farms have a significant environmental component in the structure of its services. Accordingly the quality of this component requires an evaluation system that is clear to the consumer.

This system of evaluation of environmental quality of rural tourism was introduced by Union in 2004 – a system of environmental labeling of estates «Green farmstead». It is developed by using the proven European models and fitted to the specific conditions of Ukraine. It aims at such a way of existence and maintenance of the house and its guests which has no damage to the ecological environment or even improves it. «Green farmstead» draws attention of primarily environmentally oriented tourists who make up the majority of developed European countries and are becoming an increasing trend among our countrymen. This leads to the popularity of eco-labels to owners of estates. Every year in Ukraine the number of marked estates increases and today there are 58 estates from 7 regions which received a certificate: the first (lowest) level - 50, the second level - 8, the third (top) - no farmstead.


Briefly describing the content of gradation of environmental quality of signs «Green farmstead» at a various levels one can in the following ways:

- the mark of the first level shows that the estate operates in a such way to minimize damage to the environment;

- the mark of the second level shows that the estate owners are making an active effort to improve the ecological state of the environment;

- the mark of the third level defines ecologically sustainable and environmental protection activity as a basic component of rural tourism services provided in that farm.

The procedure of environmental labeling must be completely voluntary and conscious choice of the owners of farmsteads. Certificate and mark «Green farmstead» provided for a period of 2 years. This mark may increase the popularity of the estate among environmentally-conscious tourists. Sign provided by the Union for Promotion of Rural Green Tourism in Ukraine and can be used as a marketing tool.

For the owner of the sign its attractiveness is provided by two main factors: increased demand from tourists and primary promotion of its services to the market associations and government agencies. The first of these factors (an increase in demand) today works mainly regarding to foreign consumers that are welcome guests in Ukrainian villages due to their high culture and solvency. But unlike European tourists most of them prefers holidays in environmentally labeled homes the prestige of mark «Green farmstead» in the domestic consumer must yet to be earned. So it is required the joint efforts not only the government and the public but also the owners of estates. As for market promotion the effectiveness of this process depends largely on environmental labeling consistency with high level of tourist services. Only quality services may be the subject to the marketing efforts.

It should be noted that similar schemes in European countries have a lot in common because of the unique approach to environmental labeling as a factor that supporting and promoting sustainable development. This is confirmed by the similarity of the main sections of environmental certification requirements. These usually include: reducing the harmful effects of agro-tourism on the environment, saving resources, maintaining traditions and crafts, support the local economy, the development of environmentally-friendly forms of entertainment and recreation. According to the same principles built the certification scheme for the sign «Green farmstead». In the future the we need to integrate the various European systems of eko-marking in one international. Such a combination will make it easier for consumers and agencies to figure out in lots of different characters as well as significantly increase the credibility of a single international mark. It is obvious that respect for the character (and consequently the market demand for it) are directly dependent on the stability and credibility of the organization that introduced it.

Initially, the ongoing efforts may not immediately give a significant economic (not to mention environmental) effects so you should be patient and look into the future. Today for farms the effectiveness of investing money in ekomarking is not always obvious because environmental certification procedure is not cheap and must be payed now and the result (whether it increase the flow of tourists) is unknown. The fulfillment of environmental standards also requires some spending that leading to an increase in the cost of tourist services. But not everything can be measured by monetary units only. Understanding the economic difficulties on the first steps of introducing of environmental labeling the Union aims to search for alternative sources of funding of certification procedures. Today the certification process have passed 35 farms from 7 regions of Ukraine, 24 of them received the sign «Green farmstead» of Level 1 and 3 estates of Level 2. This was done free of charge for owners.


The Environmental certification program for «Green farmstead» is completely voluntary. It is also independent from the quality certification of an accommodation and shows only an environmentally friendly method of farming. Sometimes the improvement of comfort of an accommodation may even conflict with environmental requirements, in particular the cost of electricity and water or use of household chemicals. But there is a considerable demand for holidays with «traditional folk» style.

Dwell on those requirements the failure of which often becomes an obstacle to getting the mark. Most often it is the use of pesticides in horticulture and gardening. Despite all the assurances of the manufacturers of such substances they are inconsistent with the concept of organic foods as well as causing considerable damage to biodiversity of the environment. So we have to choose between increas of potato yield and environmentally friendly way of managing "Green farmstead".

Another requirement that is not always done today is to have a document from sanitation centers about the conformity to state drinking water standards. Note that this statement will still have to get everyone who officially takes the tourists.

Besides sometimes it becomes a problem of dump on the estate territory or next to it. The owners of farmsteads who tend to be the most active and progressive villagers have to take care of a clean environment. As can be seen the discussed obstacles are not insurmountable and the execution of these conditions does not require large investments.

To systematize quantitative and qualitative indicators of levels of households in rural tourism services in the Kherson region there was formed the procedure of categorizing of individual farms. There was created the system of criteria «Cauchy Tavriya». The procedure is aimed at promoting relations with normative regulation of differentiation in rural tourism as a form of economic activity for those who provide the temporary accommodation and hotel services in rural areas.

The lack of awareness of citizens about regulatory activities in a temporary accommodation results in incorrect interpretation of their actions and violations of the law that negatively affects the social and economic status of settlements. In particular this applies to settlements that are located in the coastal area of the Kherson region where under the guise of rural tourism work mini-hotels that are located in the countryside. Thus, the local and state budgets do not receive the funds necessary to ensure the improvement and development of local infrastructure and more. Categorization procedure is voluntary and is based on the application of the holder of a farm. Thus, the program enables local governments to obtain justification of separation of rural tourism.

Quantitative and qualitative indicators of farms that provide services in rural tourism are divided into five categories: farm «one basket», «two baskets», «three baskets», «four baskets», «five baskets».

1 category Farm «one basket»

The farmstead with the yard and garden. Simple home. At least one separate bedroom with not less than 12 m2 with furnished living space. A gas stove or wood, coal, fuel oil oven. An external WC. A summer shower. WC and a shower used by other guests and a host family (over 10 people). Storing food in the refrigerator, cold basement. Kitchen utensils. An infant cradle on request.

2 category Farm «Two baskets»

The farmstead with the yard and garden. Simple home. Rent a furnished living area with a separate bedroom (at least 12 m2 ) and a living room/kitchen with comfortable chairs, beds. A gas stove or wood, coal, fuel oil oven. TV (color with remote control) in the living room, a refrigerator.


An external WC. A summer shower. WC and a shower used by other guests and a host family (up to 10 users). In the garden there is everything for barbecue, a common table, chairs or benches. Kitchen utensils. A washing machine. An infant cradle on request. Hot water on schedule.

Category 3 Farm «three baskets»

A house with furniture and interior decoration, at least 14 m2 of living space with a separate bedroom, living room/kitchen (extra bed can be placed in the living room). WC in the home: a shower, a bath and a toilet. WC can be used by no more than 7 people. TV (with a remote control and color diagonal of at least 37 cm), an electric cooker, a refrigerator, a washing machine, a mixer, a coffee machine, a telephone. An external WC. There is everything for barbecue, a common table, chairs or benches in the garden. Kitchen utensils. An infant cradle on request. Maid service on request. Hot water.

4 category Farm «Four baskets»

An exquisite home with respectable furniture and interior decoration, at least 20 m2 of living space with separate bedroom (bedroom suite with comfortable furniture and appliances), living room and kitchen (an extra chair bed can be placed in the living room). A fireplace in living room. WC in the home: a shower, a bath, a separate toilet, a private sauna (bath). WC can be used by no more than 7 people. Household appliances. TV (with a remote control and color diagonal of at least 37 cm), access to a computer and the Internet. Kitchen utensils. An infant cradle on request. Maid service on request. Hot water. Guests can take their pets: cats, dogs, guinea pigs, etc. for which there is a special infrastructure.

5 category Farm «five baskets»

An exquisite home with respectable furniture and interior decoration, not less than 42 m2 of living space with a separate bedroom (one or two bedroom suites with comfortable furniture and appliances, air-conditioned), a living room and a kitchen. Television in each bedroom and living room (with a remote control and color diagonal of at least 37 cm), a fireplace in the living room. WC separately for the family (group) in a rest home: a shower, a bath, a separate toilet, a private sauna (bath). All appliances (a stove, a fridge/freezer, a washing machine and a dishwasher, a microwave, etc.). Each bedroom has a separate WC and a shower.

A private landscaped park or a garden, equipped areas for active recreation (such as: tennis, skittles, volleyball, pool, Jacuzzi), a garage for cars and other appliances. Kitchen utensils. An infant cradle on request. Maid service on request. Hot water. Guests can take their pets: cats, dogs, guinea pigs, etc. for which there is a special infrastructure.

There are also other systems of categorization of rural households in several regions of Ukraine. On May 31, 2011 the Ministry of Resorts and Tourism of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea approved new editions of voluntary categorization of accommodation rural and green tourism in Crimea.

Voluntary Standards categorization is established in accordance with the requirements of ISO 4268:2003 «Touristic services. Accommodation. General requirements», regulations and government standards for individual accommodation. The individual facilities include tourist accommodation and residential property which is rent for a fee or free of charge. All accommodation units (room, dwelling) are independent and occupied by tourists and owners who use this accommodation.

It established four categories of voluntary categorization that are indicated by appropriate signs. The Sign is developing by community organizations in the tourism sector. These community


organizations carry categorization of estates and rural green tourism in Crimea. The sign has four categories of accommodation: basic (lowest), the first, second, third (best). The Sign entitles the owner of the estate to report about the appropriate quality of living conditions and the quality of services in advertising media and establish a fee comparable to its category, uses the sign as a part of the popularization of certain estates. The full text of it is available online http://www.feodosia-info.com/images/stories/selskie_usadbi.doc.

4.4 SWOT analysis of rural green tourism.SWOT- is the analysis which has been widely used in various sectors of the economy due to the

visibility, accessibility, user-friendly and practical in application to identify weaknesses and prospects. SWOT-analysis in general does not contain economic categories and can be applied to any of the organizations and industries in general for building strategies in various fields of activity, including in rural (green) tourism.

Strengths

- historical and cultural potential of the region (district) - a monument of nature, architecture, wood architecture, museums, sports facilities (playgrounds) traditions, folklore, etc.;

- availability of rich and diverse recreational resources (available for hiking or mountain biking (summer) or equipped with ski slopes in winter, the presence of places for bathing, opportunities for gathering berries and mushrooms, etc.);

- natural and geographic location of the estate (accessibility, availability of nearby forests, lakes, etc.);

- climatic features of the location of the green estate (eg, highland villages of the Transcarpathian region can boast of greater tranquility, fresh air, snow cover in winter and cool in summer);

- regional policy support of local governments;

- support for rural green tourism from NGOs (such as the Union for Promotion of Rural Green Tourism, which has offices in all regions of Ukraine);

- cleanliness of the environment;

- national ethnographic feature area (popular culture, everyday life, customs, rituals, crafts, regional holidays, etc.);

- traditional hospitality of the population (openness and honesty in communication, good arrangement and cleanliness of estates, regional dishes, etc.);

- the lack of inter-ethnic and inter-religious conflicts;

- a small price for room and board.

Weaknesses

- imperfect legal framework;

- poor condition, bad accessibility of transport infrastructure;

- the competitive environment inside the industry: other estates, resorts, a hotel and a restaurant, etc.;


- seasonal factor (the largest number of tourists in summer and winter, during public holidays calendar, the lowest in the spring and fall);

- climatic features of the season (late cold spring, snowy or snowless winter);

- incomplete categorization of private estates;

- not too attractive image of Ukraine in the eyes of foreign tourists;

- low level of initial capital for starting self-employment;

- poverty and monotony of recreational facilities;

- lack of experience in the field of green tourism (a small number of agroosel, absent or low level of organizational, informational and advertising support);

- pollution of the environment (the presence of objects with significant emissions of harmful substances into the environment, storage of toxic substances, contaminated water, etc.);

- lack of traditions of folk life and culture or their poor condition;

- traditional and an uninteresting approach to hospitality (a formal approach to entertaining, unoriginal and primitive cuisine, etc.);

- lack of a clear development strategy of green tourism at the district level;

- competition and lack of coordination between the various organizations involved in promotion of green tourism, preventing the implementation of common strategic development of the industry.

Opportunities

- use online resources to promote the activities of the estate, booking a holiday, information about new services, offers, an online blog, photo gallery;

- development of new tourism products and services;

- improving the quality of existing services;

- improvement of material and technical equipment of the estate;

- improvement of the estate interior and exterior household items that has natural origin (wood, textiles, stone, etc.);

- supporting the development of related activities which are a source of additional income and varies the recriation: smithy, breeding of bees, gathering and drying of mushrooms, berries, wine manufacturing, hunting, manufacturing of souvenirs;

- development and implementation of green travel routes (hiking, bicycle, gastronomic, ethnographic, etc.);

- flexible pricing;

- obtaining international grants;

- effective organizational, educational and methodical, informational and legal framework for the development of the green tourism at a level of nation, region, district;


- use the area as a transit area;

- increase investment and improve the quality of infrastructure software of development area;

- establishing interregional cooperation;

- restoration of monuments of history, architecture and culture;

- the inclusion of certain objects of nature, culture and architecture in tour routes of international, national and regional significance;

- restoration of traditional folk culture, customs, rituals, domestic crafts and cuisine;

- work in rural clubs and teaching Ethnology and local history in schools;

- improvement of the environment;

- the possibility of preferential loans for farmsteads;

- the development of the green tourism contributes to capital inflows to the village growth and improvement of living standards in general;

- arrival of tourists contributes to the protection and restoration of cultural and historical sites of the region;

- activities of rural communities in the area of green tourism encourages improvement of rural homes and landscaping of all areas, the development of social infrastructure, services, etc.;

- increasing employment of rural population (new jobs will be created in the service industry, medicine, transport network);

- slow down the migration of youth to cities and abroad in search of work.

Threats

- lack of professional experience of the owner, the staff of the farmsteads;

- poor knowledge of languages by the owner and the staff of the farmsteads;

- slow development of organizational, educational and methodological information;

- increasing competition from farmsteads of neighboring districts and regions;

- deterioration of infrastructure maintenance and socio-economic standards of living due to economic stagnation and depression in the country;

- further degradation of traditional folk culture and way of life;

- unfavorable demographic situation;

- unstable political and economic situation is not conducive to foreign investors;

- the lack of stimulation of the industry from the state;

- great ecological preassure on natural resources by a growing number of tourists.


Due to SWOT-analysis we can identify the current level and prospects of rural green tourism. Conducting a SWOT-analysis also provides the possibility to define territorial characteristics and current direction of the green tourism, concentrate logistical, investment, organizational, economic and other facilities for their needs.

Regarding the perspective of development of the green tourism there is the project of the Union for Promotion of Rural Green Tourism in Ukraine «Policy development and functioning of rural tourism in Ukraine»:

Goal 1 - Development of recommendations on the main principles of the state policy in the field of rural tourism.

Objective - to conduct sociological research among owners of households, private farms that provide services in the rural green tourism, analyze, prepare a document to approve it at the community level and to inform the executive bodies for changes in public policy.

Goal 2 - improvement of the quality of services in the field of rural tourism.

Objectives - development Programme «Rural settlement Ukraine» on the basis of quality «Green farmstead» and «Ukrainian guest house». Launch the Institute of inspectors, advisors, promote the creation of a qualitatively new market for rural tourism, attractive to rural areas, clear and safe for domestic and foreign customers.

Goal 3 - development and increasing of the authority of the Union at national and regional levels.

Today there is an important question of training operators of rural green tourism and agro-tourism. Together with specialists from the Ministry of Labour and Social Policy of Ukraine the State Employment Service and the Union for Promotion of Rural Green Tourism in Ukraine (Ukrainian non-governmental organization) were developed the curricula and training programs for such professionals. It is also advisable to engage in this work the teachers of Universities from the largest tourism regions.

4.5 The analysis of questionnaire

2. To which type of tourism does your business belong?

Guest House5

9%

� Villa1

2%

� Farm0

%

� Family hotel2

9%

3. How many beds has your farmstead?

� less than 10 beds6

5%

� more than 10 beds 3


5%

4. To which category does your business belong?

� one star3

8%

� two star3

8%

� three star2

3%

5. Do you use hired labor?

� yes3

5%

� no6

5%

6. You have a higher education?

� yes9

4%

� no6

%

7. You have an education in a tourism sphere?

� yes2

4%

� no7

6%

8. What part of your employees has an education in a tourism sphere?

� all0

%

� most of them0

%

� a few of them1

7%

� nobody8

3%

9. Do you know any foreign languages?

� yes / state /:7

6%

� no2

4%

10. What part of your staff know foreign languages? / state /

� everyone knows one foreign language / more than one foreign language


� much of them know at least one foreign language / more than one foreign language

� small part knows at least one foreign language / more than one foreign language6

0%

� nobody knows foreign languages4

0%

11. Do you use computer technology and software to manage your business?

� for booking3

2%

� for web-page management3

2%

� for promotion2

9%

� no6

%

12. Do you dvertise your business?

� Internet2

3%

� brochure1

0%

� catalogs8

%

� business cards1

6%

� TV5

%

� radio4

%

� tourist fair1

0%

� website1

8%

� verbal communication5

%

� Do not advertise0

%

13. How do you explore the tourist market?

� Internet8

1%

� tourist guides1

0%

� marketing agencies 1


0%

14. Do you use the services of tourist information centers?

� yes4

7%

� no5

3%

15. Do you use the services of a travel agency?

� yes6

5%

� no3

5%

16. Do you have a quality certificate?

� yes5

3%

� no4

7%

17. Do you use the quality standards?

� yes6

0%

� no4

0%

18. Are you a member of the Tourist Association?

� yes5

9%

� no4

1%

19. Have you participated in any professional courses that improve the management culture of entrepreneurs in rural tourism?

� yes5

9%

� no4

1%

20. Had you the quality control of your business, if so, according to what law?

� yes2

9%

� no7

1%

21. What additional services do you offer to your customers?

� tours - on foot, by bus or other transportation 1


2%

� walk1

2%

� long walk, hiking7

%

� rowing6

%

� observation of wildlife, birds9

%

� riding7

%

� cycling6

%

� mountain bike2

%

� picnic or BBQ1

1%

� cooking of local food1

2%

� traditional handmade7

%

� agriculture activity9

%

22. What is the main purpose of your business?

� improve the quality of tourism services and products2

8%

� increase the number of clients2

5%

� improve the effectiveness of businesses2

8%

� attract more foreign tourists1

9%

23. Do you want that your business be certified?

� yes8

8%

� no1

3%

24. What problems hinder the prosperity of your business?

� lack of infrastructure in the region2

8%

� lack of transport links 2


1%

� poor road infrastructure2

8%

� lack of management culture in the tourism sector1

0%

� large bureaucracy of administrative procedures for starting and maintaining tourism1

4%

Most farmsteads which deal with rural green tourism consider themselves as a "guest house" - 59 % of respondents, 29% are positioning themselves as a "family hotel" (agritourism in the majority is a family business), 12 % - "Villa" and no respondent chose "farm" (perhaps because farming as a business requires a lot of effort so that for the other activities there is no enough power or time).

65% of respondents possess less than 10 beds, as opposed to 35% of those where the number of beds more than 10. This indicates that agritourism first and foremost is a small family business that has greater social element - getting rid of unemployment than getting big profits.

Despite the fact that the questionnaire asked, "Which category does your tour company have?" with response options in a number of stars that is not a very good criteria when assessing rural households but the answers are equally shared by 38% between one-and two-star, 23% indicated three-star. Some of the respondents expressed that the agrooseli can’t be categorized with the general, government regulation because it will put an end to all rural homes that were able to receive visitors.

Most respondents do not use the hired labor 65%, versus 35% who use. It logically confirms a previous question about the number of seats in the estate. For a small number of places you can deal with everything on your own.

94 % of the owners of rural green estates have higher education but as for tourism education it is only 24 % of them. A question about the staff with tourism education can be analyzed only in part because most households simply do not use employees.

With regard to language skills we have good results, our village green estates can host foreign tourists: 76 % of owners master one and some more than one foreign languages, the most popular language which are indicated in the questionnaire are: English, Polish, German, Slovak, Spanish, French. Again the question of some personnel that speaks foreign languages can not be fully analyzed due to absent of hired personnel in most estates.

Computer technology is used by all respondents, the main purpose of their use is: booking, web page management - 32%, for promoution - 29 %. The most of respondents advertise their farmstead over the Internet and use it for market research - 81 % is the proportion among all means of market research.

Assistance from the tourist centers is used by almost half. They also use the services of travel agents 65%. Quality certificate has half of estates and most of them use quality standards; half of them are the members of the tourism associations - 59 %. The same percent of respondents (59%) participated in the professional courses of improvement of administrative culture of entrepreneurs in rural tourism.

The question: "Did you have the quality control of your business, if so, how much?" could be incorrectly interpreted by the respondents, as only 29 % said "yes", although in previous answers we


see that most have quality certificate. Perhaps this question some perceived as a State quality control that’s why answered "no", while others regarded as a non-governmental organizations quality control to pass the voluntary certification.

Nevertheless, 88% want their business to be certified. While this is a moot point because if the state greatly interfered in this issues and imposed the obligatory certification and a payment for it it would not be correlative with income in agritourism and the answer would be quite opposite. But it's a good sign because people want to work in civilized conditions and provide quality services.

5. GEORGIA

5.1 General Information about Economic Situation in the CountryGeorgia's main economic activities include the cultivation of agricultural products such

as grapes, citrus fruits, and hazelnuts; mining of manganese, copper, and gold; and output of a small industrial sector producing alcoholic and nonalcoholic beverages, metals, machinery, and chemicals. The country imports nearly all its needed supplies of natural gas and oil products. It has sizeable hydropower capacity that now provides most of its energy needs. Georgia has overcome the chronic energy shortages and gas supply interruptions of the past by renovating hydropower plants and by increasingly relying on natural gas imports from Azerbaijan instead of from Russia. Construction of the Baku-T'bilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline, the Baku-T'bilisi-Erzerum gas pipeline, and the Kars-Akhalkalaki Railroad are part of a strategy to capitalize on Georgia's strategic location between Europe and Asia and develop its role as a transit point for gas, oil, and other goods. Georgia's economy sustained GDP growth of more than 10% in 2006-07, based on strong inflows of foreign investment and robust government spending. However, GDP growth slowed following the August 2008 conflict with Russia, and sunk to negative 4 percent in 2009 as foreign direct investment and workers' remittances declined in the wake of the global financial crisis. The economy rebounded in 2010-12, with growth rates above 6% per year. Unemployment has also remained high at above 15%.

The country is pinning its hopes for renewed growth on a determined effort to continue to liberalize the economy by reducing regulation, taxes, and corruption in order to attract foreign investment, with a focus on hydropower, agriculture, tourism, and textiles production.

Current study emphasizes the position of rural tourism in the context of strategic social and economic development of the Republic of Georgia and describes existence of or lack of special mechanisms for recognition of specifically agrotouristic activities.

5.2 Historical BackgroundRepublic of Georgia is a small country but has a wide diversity of touristic objects

placed in areas close to the main communities and hotels. According to the government, there are 103 resorts in different climatic zones in Georgia. Tourist attractions include more than 2000 mineral springs, over 12,000 historical and cultural monuments, four of which are recognised as UNESCO World Heritage Sites (Bagrati Cathedral in Kutaisi and Gelati Monastery, historical monuments of Mtskheta, and Upper Svaneti). Unfortunately the poor infrastructure, the low expressiveness makes it unattractive first of all for the population of Republic of Georgia. Georgia has a favorable geographical placement as it is situated in an accessible zone for international tourists. Transport in Georgia is provided by means of rail,

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georgian_Railway

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mtskheta

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gelati_Monastery

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gelati_Monastery

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bagrati_Cathedral

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Heritage_Site

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spring_(hydrosphere)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K%C3%B6ppen_climate_classification


road, shipping and air travel. Positioned in the Caucasus and on the coast of the Black Sea, Georgia is a key country through which energy imports to the European Union from neighboring Azerbaijan pass. Traditionally the country was located on an important north-south trade route between European Russia and the Near East and Turkey.

In recent years Georgia has invested large amounts of money in the modernization of its transport networks. The construction of new highways has been prioritized and, as such, major cities like Tbilisi have seen the quality of their roads improve dramatically; despite this however, the quality of inter-city routes remains poor and to date only one motorway-standard road has been constructed. The Georgian railways represent an important transport artery for the Caucasus as they make up the largest proportion of a route linking the Black and Caspian Seas, this in turn has allowed them to benefit in recent years from increased energy exports from neighboring Azerbaijan to the European Union, Ukraine and Turkey. Air and maritime transport is developing in Georgia, with the former mainly used by passengers and the latter for transport of freight. Georgia currently has four international airports; the largest of which is by far Tbilisi International Airport, hub for Georgian Airways, which offers connections to many large European cities. Other airports in the country are largely underdeveloped or lack scheduled traffic, although, as of late, efforts have been made to solve both these problems. There are a number of seaports along Georgia's Black Sea coast, the largest and busiest of which is the Port of Batumi; whilst the town is itself a seaside resort, the port is a major cargo terminal in the Caucasus and is often used by neighboring Azerbaijan as a transit point for making energy deliveries to Europe. Scheduled and chartered passenger ferry services link Georgia with Ukraine and Turkey. Of particular urgency is use of Georgia's Black Sea Port Terminals with a view to transporting agricultural products (wheat), in particular, in order to export Central Asian (Kazakh) wheat to third countries. The upgraded wheat processing terminal in Poti is one of the promoting factors. After putting of a new terminal into operation, its capability will increase up to 250-300 thousand tons.

In the beginning tourism in Georgia was fully state-controlled and included in the tourism system of the former USSR. During this period, the range of tourist services was diversified. Besides the traditional points of tourism programs (city tour, museums, recreational areas) new forms has appeared such as: visiting enterprises, in particular wine producing plants and factories, organizing cultural and folklore programs.

Tourism on the other hand, which only began in independent Georgia in 1995, is a largely untapped sector. Georgia’s deep rooted wine culture, mild weather, historic monuments, charming villages, and accessibility to a large Euro wine tourism market make it an ideal location for tourism to thrive. Although there were 300,000 “visitors” to Georgia in 2004, according to the Department of Tourism and Resorts only 15,000 to 25,000 were actual “tourists” under WTO’s definition. Georgia’s share of the Euro market can be significantly expanded, and its share of tourism in the Americas, SE Asia, and the Middle East can also grow with proper master planning, strategic planning, product development, public relations, and marketing.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georgian_Airways

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tbilisi_International_Airport

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caspian_Sea

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caspian_Sea

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motorway

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Near_East

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Russia


In 2010 National Tourism Administration was created. International tourist arrivals to Georgia have been growing rapidly over the last years. In 2011, their number reached 2 822 363, representing 39 % growth. According to the recently updated information the number of international travelers was 4 389 256 in 2012, demonstrating 56% increase over previous year.

Between January and April of 2013, Georgia hosted 1 291 593 tourists (32% increase as compared with the analogous period of 2012). According to “World Tourism Barometer”, which was published by the World Tourism Organization in September 2012 and was based on the primary data of January-September 2012, Georgia was on the first place in the world according to the growth of number of tourists (+54%).

The bed infrastructure of the local roads is considered one of the main problems in Republic of Moldova concerning all areas of development. In this concern during the last years big investments from international partners were attracted and some positive changes can be observed.

5.3 Information about Agritourism in Georgia

Agrotourism is a growing market in the travel industry. Agrotourism is a form of rural tourism, which brings visitors to agricultural, farming or rural environments, but encompasses much more. Compared to mass tourism, agrotourism offers a great alternative if you yearn for freedom and adventure in nature. Sustainability and environmental protection are core to agrotourism’s ethos and practice.. Agritourism is defined as "involving any agriculturally-based operation or activity that brings visitors to a farm or other food production facility." Most of this is seen in the so-called rural hotels, guesthouses, rural houses which is taking at the same time quite a number of tourists and not always have a high level of service. They are in purely rural areas and in many cases infrastructure is not well-developed as well.

Rural tourism is considered as tourism offering the benefits of rural environment to the visitors or tourists, by allowing the experience of a combination of nature, culture and people. It implies that the visitor or tourist is going to enjoy the authentic, original experiences and return to the roots what is in the essence of rural lifestyle. It is based on the principles of sustainability containing the elements of rural environment, natural resources, as well as traditional hospitality and values of the local population. It includes numerous services apart from accommodation such as social events, festivities, outdoor recreation, production and sale of manufactured products and agriculture products, etc. According to a broader definition, “Rural tourism includes a series of activities, services, accommodations offered by farmers, and inhabitants of the rural environment, in order to attract tourists to their respective areas and to generate additional revenues”.

Although similar, the desk research in each country reveals differences in the definition, perception and wording for marginalized communities. Agrotourism is often understood as holidays in rural area houses. there is no clear definition between the terms «rural», «agricultural», «farm», «eco». Agritourism, Rural Tourism – tourism in rural areas: in rural


areas, on farms, in convenient peasant homes. Agritourism means giving tourists an opportunity of participation participate in a traditional rural labor.

The basis of the attractiveness of rural tourism is a complex of factors that favorably affect the person: recreational, aesthetic, educational. Holidays in the countryside – it's not a resort where there are many tourists. There is a state of relaxation, which is supported by positive emotional influence of the surrounding terrain: mountains, forests, rivers, lakes or the sea, the beauty of the landscape and so on. Positive social component of rural tourism is to provide rural employment in the service sector in rural areas. Therefore, the development of this trend can be seen as the real path of social development of depressed rural areas which allows you to stop the degradation of the countryside, which suffers from the constant outflow of population, particularly because of unemployment. Services provided under the rural tourism programs usually include:

- accommodation in private houses or guesthouses;- meals with organic products;- familiarity with the history of the land;- participation in vintage; - gathering in mushrooms and berries;- participation in traditional ceremonies;- horseback riding.

Because of the difficult economic situation in the agricultural sector of the country, the Government of Georgia is trying to facilitate small business development in areas not associated with agricultural production.

Legislation related to Georgian tourism consists of two laws: (1) The Law of Georgia that deals with Tourism and Health Resorts; (2) The Law of Georgia that deals with Protective Sanitary Zones and Resorts Localities. These laws came into force in 1997 and 1998, are only focused on spring baths and spas or thermal development in sanitary zones. The main legislative provision of tourism services is established in the 11th chapter of the Civil Code. It should be noted that Georgian Parliament added series of rules and regulations under the Law of 28th April, 2006 in order to increase the degree of responsibility of travel companies. Tourist service contract, like many other types of agreements may be concluded with both a written and oral form. Legal regulation of the market rural tourism falls under the jurisdiction of two departments: the Ministry of Agrarian Policy of Georgia (MAPG) and the National Tourism Administration, which is the central executive body which activities are directed and coordinated by the Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development of Georgia which is part of the executive branch and provides implementation of state policy in the sphere of tourism and resorts. Taking into account that economic and social problems of the village have intensified, development of agricultural tourism is particularly desirable. The positive impact of agricultural tourism in the socio-economic problems of the village lies primarily in the fact that it expands the scope of employment of the rural population, especially women, and gives farmers extra income. Maximising agronomic benefits from ecotourism means embracing the free-market concepts of competitiveness and profit. From a business point of view, agrotourism is fundamentally about a journey, where supply meets demand and tourists enjoy a product designed by professionals on the ground and marketed in


their home countries. In addition to training guides, providing accommodation, printing promotional material and creating web pages, agrotourism actors like tour operators, conservation organizations, local community representatives and national governments will benefit from a more systematic approach to the entire service chain of any given journey, which is often trans-national.

5.4 The actual state of agro-tourism in Georgia

In Georgia agrotourism has started to be developing recently, giving rural population the opportunity to get involved in tourism industry, receive alternative income, and create new jobs. Nevertheless the agrotourism infrastructure, compared to the other countries, is still poor. One of the main problems apparent in the agrotourism sector in Georgia is that human capital in agrotourism is generally not well trained and experienced; therefore, a lack of skilled human resources is a major reason of its slow development. A strong emphasis is detected on developing physical infrastructure and a limited focus on developing human capital within the tourism industry. A number of reports point out the difficulties caused by language and cultural barriers. Most laws and official documents are still printed only in Georgian, even though English is widely understood at all levels of the Georgian Government. Most of the available accommodations are guesthouses and most of them are inadequate for foreign visitors. Shower-toilet combination in guesthouses is often a standard after having been operation for over eight years. Business Information for the Newly Independent States (BISNIS) observes: “Laws and regulations, especially in the areas of tax and customs, are subject to uneven and arbitrary interpretation by bureaucrats and courts”.

Another problem is related to promotion. Agrotourism products and services of the region are not appropriately promoted, setting serious limits to their potential customers. Apart from above mentioned collaboration opportunities between stakeholders are not provided proficiently or at all in some aspects. A committee that will be created within the project will train participants and establish professional communication system for cooperation and fair decision making process.

Wine tourism can target local Georgian Market, expatriate community in Georgia, and foreign visitors. Wine and culinary tours are attractive for wine aficionados, especially from Western countries, as well as Russia, Ukraine and others who are familiar with Georgia and its cuisine and wines. The country’s wine history, 500 varieties of grapes and combination of modern and traditional wine-making technology and methods can be experienced in Kakheti and other regons of Georgia – those are the excellent selling points for Georgia. In Kakheti wine tourism would benefit from other development. There are very few tours available for wineries.

In fact, restaurants, cafes, tourist shops and art galleries are practically nonexistent in wine country. Throughout the Kalheti region, as well as other rural regions with agro tourism, would be well served with smaller, more intimate facilities such as eco-lodges.


Opportunities for developing various kinds of tourism facilities are as diverse as the Georgian landscapes. Agro-tourism, wine tourism and gourmet tours based on a tradition of more than 500 varieties of grapes, native and unique crops and livestock as well as a cuisine rich in local recipes and traditions.

The America-Georgia Business Council and SW Associates, Washington, DC highlighted the priority of problems including the protection of cultural heritage, lack of trained stuff and shortage of qualified people, lack of image about Georgia in the international market, government involvement in the tourism Sector (i.e. tax holidays and other incentives), maintenance of historical monuments and sites and tourism schools which are not teaching yet the right skills of the industry.

During the period 2006–2009, the contribution of the agriculture sector to the national economy of Georgia was 12.5 percent on average. In 2010, the agriculture sector generated USD 268 000 000 as foreign exchange, 13 percent of total foreign exchange earnings; previously the sector’s share of total foreign exchange earnings in the period 2006–2010 was 21 percent on average. It continues to be mainly of a subsistence nature; however, it provides an important safety net for most of the rural population, and its performance is crucial to poverty reduction. From 2006–2010, the sector employed approximately 47 percent of the total national labor force.

Forty-four percent of Georgia’s total area is considered to be agricultural land. However, there is no official definition of rural areas in Georgia. According to the National Statistics office there are 65 districts and rural areas, which are controlled by rural councils. There are 44 minor towns, 896 rural councils and about 3,668 rural settlements in Georgia.

Georgia’s diverse climatic conditions and natural resource endowment allow production of a wide variety of agricultural products and favour competitive development of the sector. Thanks to the support of conducive policies and an improving institutional and legal environment, agriculture remains one of the most promising sectors of Georgia’s economy in terms of GDP contribution, net foreign exchange earnings, employment generation, and importance for poverty reduction. In 2010, agriculture became a development priority for the Government, and the Ministry of Agriculture has initiated preparation of a sector development strategy. The 2011 budget of the Ministry (GEL 69 million) was increased by 72 percent from the previous year’s allocation (GEL 40 million) to support implementation of the Agriculture Development Strategy. Most of the activities of the Ministry in 2011 will aim to improve sector performance and increase output.

Actually, accounting and statistics of rural tourism is not made in full, that prevents from fully determining the extent of this type of tourism. Some monitoring of the quantity and condition of Infrastructure and accommodation are held by various NGOs and government district administrations and other government agencies in some regions, although these data are rather designed for the inner workings of the tourism department of the administration, and not for drawing general statistics.


The authorities have an interest in the development of rural tourism, especially in areas that are traditionally tourist, but a clear program of support and promotion of rural tourism has not been developed. There are always no funds in supporting this activity.

In our opinion, the main features of rural tourism in Georgia can be briefly defined as follows:

- the legal framework of rural tourism standards has not yet been determined;- there are no certain conditions for most houses to be involved in rural tourism;- complete statistical activities are not carried out; - infrastructure is in poor conditions;- state provides support for rural tourism but the dependence on NGOs, IOs and funds is

much more;- financial problems of development, lack of interest from the professional tour

operators;- lack of proper knowledge and qualified stuff.

The main problem in the development of rural tourism in Georgia remains the legal status of this type of tourism. The legislation of Georgia has not yet determined the concept of rural tourism as an activity. Accordingly, all issues (eg, taxes, licenses, etc.) related to rural tourism are actually not regulated by law. They are contradictory and unclear. This causes a huge part of the black market for rural tourism. There is constantly a mix of concepts in the system of rural and other types of tourism which takes place in rural areas. So often in rural areas develop a system of standard hotels or cottages with appropriate infrastructure and services rather than traditional guesthouses. Often in such villages arrive too many tourists that may cause damage to the natural ecosystem. The financial aspect of rural tourism development is not sufficiently considered by the state. It is difficult to get the money (even small) for starting a business, building or upgrading rural houses. Loans from commercial banks are very expensive, a soft loan from the government is almost impossible for a poor peasant.

There is a problem of promotion. It is a problem for small villages with poor infrastructure how to attract tourists. Georgian people often perceive the village as a place to vacation or holiday because many people from the town have relatives in the village or cottage where they occasionally get out and are often engaged in agricultural activities there. So these people are not interested to come to rest with these villages. A traditional village can attract only other relatively small segments of tourists. It should also be noted that most of the population of Georgia has no money to get vacation abroad or in other parts of the country and may be interested in a cheap service. Foreign tourists who can bring the biggest profit for the rural area are interested only in attractive natural areas (often ski resorts) and bypass these villages. Poor infrastructure is often names as the main problem for the prosperity of the sector. Transportation primarily includes such features as easy access to the village from the nearest large/regional city, opportunities to travel neighboring areas and so on. During winter, snow closes ways towards many beautiful villages in the mountains of Georgia, which is really problematic for the country. Also qualified medical services are not


provided in many localities. Because of poor infrastructure (mainly road and communication problems) many small interesting villages have no chance for attracting foreigner tourists.

Another problem is lack of information. Information usually includes informing tourists about rural area opportunities, such as: housing, interesting events and other things related to rural tourism. It should be specific information panels of rural tourism that provides information to tourists. In Georgia such a network is not very developed especially in remote regional settlements. There are big problems related to the signs on the roads too. They are either not translated in English many times or does not exist at all, which causes some troubles for tourists.

The additional opportunities for summer fun refers to a set of recreational facilities such as ski rental or boats in the village, coach services in a particular sport or organization horseback riding, promote mountain biking opportunities, etc. For some categories of tourists it is the most attractive part of their journey and for local businesses it is the best way for gaining money from their customers.

There are educational benefits related to this sector. As tours are performed in different areas of the country with different historic heritage, it gives tourists a clear picture of the country’s cultural development, their traditions and generally about the history of the region. This point of agroturism is better developed in the areas where they use guides for their customers.

Travelling in the regions leave indelible impression on tourists. It becomes keener by exploiting completely diverse sights and is enriched in peculiarity of Georgian landscapes. Many spectators go into raptures over inflammatory Georgian dances, polyphonic folk songs. Life, national character, clothes, mentality, cuisine, songs and dances are changing kaleidoscopically every 60-km in this small country.

In our study we consider the current state of the agrotourism in the following four regions of Georgia – Mtatusheti, Zemo SvaneTi, Kakheti and Adjara regions.

5.3.1 Mtatusheti regionIn Georgia agro-tourism development is especially important for Mtatusheti region,

which is notable for the beauty of landscapes, cultural-historical and natural attractions, excellent wines, local beer, abundance of unique herbal remedy, high-quality natural health food products, and a variety of local cooking. Ethnic and cultural peculiarity of Tusheti, unlike other traditional cultures, is mainly due to the historically developed specific economic system – that is integration of nomadic sheep farming, animal husbandry, and agriculture. Nomadic sheep farming, a traditional sphere of employment of Tushi men, played a major role in the formation of ethno- psychological and worldly peculiarity of Tushis. Tolerances, peace of mind, and adherence to the traditions of hospitality are the most vivid mental qualities of Tushis. Shepherds passed from generation to generation and still keep the secret of goat cheese making technology. Tushi sheep cheese called «Gudis Kweli» (cheese in a bag), is prepared in a specially treated bags made of sheep skins, which gives the cheese a distinctive taste. Tusheti is famous for its beautiful alpine meadows and well-preserved pine forests, for majestic Caucasus peaks Tebulo Caucasus (4492 m), Diklo (4285 m), and Borbalo


(3294 m). The administrative center of Tusheti is village Omalo. Below is given a list of services for tourists, which are provided by the hotel «Keselo» in Omalo. These types of services are typical for this region. Agro-tourism system is remarkable for that spending holidays is relatively cheap. Hosts serve guests as waiters and cooks. Visitors try, enjoy, and taste domestic cheese, smoked pork (so called lori), fresh boiled goat ling or lamb, as well as drink local wines. Language communications make problem neither for hosts nor for guests. The main motivation of rural tourism is cheap relaxation, clean and pleasant environment, though with less comfort. Any kind of tourism including agro-tourism requires detailed planning and effective management. For the development of agro-tourism is necessary to develop appropriate infrastructure in selected villages and the training/retraining of village and rural officials in issues of tourism-related services.

5.3.2 Zemo Svaneti Zemo Svaneti has a high potential for tourism, but at present this is hampered by

concerns that the region is insecure and by a lack of infrastructure for access and reception. Currently, only a few households in selected communities obtain income from tourism. The region has a potential to diversify its appeal in order to attract more visitors and encourage them to stay longer. For expansion of the tourism sector, development actors should collaborate with the national Department of Tourism in the elaboration of a strategy document for Zemo Svaneti. Sustainable tourism should be a key element in the approach in order to prevent negative side effects from tourism development. In the short term, development actors should foster broader benefit sharing by: supporting advertising to attract more tourists; encouraging capacity building to involve more households, and advocating the establishment of local information centres to freely disseminate information and facilitate access.

Mestia is a mountain small town in northwest Georgia, at an elevation of 1,500 meters in the Caucasus Mountains. Mestia is located in the Samegrelo-Zemo Svaneti region, 128 km northeast of the regional capital of Zugdidi. Mestia town is dominated by stone defensive towers of a type seen also in Ushguli. A typical Svan fortified dwelling consisted of a tower, an adjacent house and some other household structures encircled by a defensive wall. Access is limited from Zugdidi. Transport is by “old Soviet jeep” or a “Niva”. From Mestia, transport is available to Ushguli and other villages in the region.

Svaneti offers stunning landscape with great opportunities for a backpacker independent traveler and adventure travel operator market. It is avery good place for horseback tours as well. Under some limitations limitations, the objectives of interventions in crop production should be to optimise cultivation in order to obtain better yields with the same or less effort, thus securing food diversity. This could be achieved through improved cultivation techniques, higher quality seeds or adapted mechanisation. In order to achieve an improved market access for agricultural products, the processing of existing goods and the production of low-weight high-value products should be pursued. This would also include packaging and labelling. It is also recommended that groups should be created for collective marketing and that a local market place should be established. All innovations in the agricultural sector will require careful and adapted knowledge transfer. Risk aversion leads to hesitancy towards new production schemes, thus demonstration is of utmost importance.


5.3.3 Kakheti The visit covered the Kakheti region, with the municipalities of Telavi, Kvareli and

Akhmeta. This is the wine region of Georgia and is characterized by small towns and villages surrounded by farmland that is largely covered with small vineyards of less than 20 hectares although several large operations have recently been established. Kakheti is located in a wide valley between the mountains separating it from Tbilisi and the much higher mountains to the east between Georgia and Azerbaijan. Tourism is heavily geared to wine tasting and the road network is in good condition, although large buses are not frequent due to the narrow and winding mountain roads between the region and Tbilisi. There are also organic farms, including livestock, and cheese making facilities. Some fruit (apples) is also grown in several villages rather than grapes.

Kakheti is a land of hospitable, openhearted and straightforward people who live surrounded by rugged mountains, ancient castles, magnificent churches, and drink wine to praise the almighty for each harvest of their nurtured grape yards. Kakheti is unquestionably a must-see for any visitor to Georgia. With its generous landscapes and people, Kakheti offers an unforgettable experience to its first-time visitors and those who are well acquainted with its heart-warming culture.

Known almost exclusively for its vineyards and wineries, this wide and fertile valley presses up against the white-topped Dagestan Caucasus to the north and the Azerbaijan wetlands to the south. Hot enough in summer to ripen any grape to perfection, the morning fog and the abundant rivers flowing down from the high Caucasus help fill them with bold flavor.

History of Kakheti winegrowing takes a start from VI millennium BC. Grape leftovers, discovered by the archeologists, date back to the mentioned period and they are the oldest around the globe, which proves once again that Georgia is a homeland of wine. 500 out of world-known 2.000 grape species are Georgian. Everyone can enjoy the world’s oldest wine culture and discover the unique Qvevri tradition of clay pots used to create delicious, unfiltered, organic wines.

Touring this region for wine tasting is becoming ever more popular, and there are many different wineries you can visit and taste variety of wines. Nearly all traditional household winemaking equipment and vessels are preserved in the family’s ancient wine cellar. Guests can taste wines aged according to age-old practices. Visitors are also offered local honey and homemade honey vodka. On the second floor of the house there is a studio where sheep wool is processed, dyed by natural dyes and used in carpets, rugs and tapestry. Some farmhouses which are located near the town of Telavi have vineyards, strawberry and peach plantations, a well-kept yard, a pergola with different varieties of grapes, a tonne (bread-baking oven) and a “Marani” (wine cellar), as well as a well-equipped wine-tasting room with a fireplace.


Throughout the Kakheti region, as well as other rural regions with agro tourism, mountain tourism and recreational outlets, would be well served with smaller, more intimate facilities such as eco-lodges. Eco-lodges are a key product element of ecotourism and especially distinguished by the fact that most lodges are unique. At the top tier, there are discernible traits that are worthy of emulation throughout Georgia: a light “footprint”, adherence to local cultural style and character, close connection to nature, local community and private spaces.

5.3.5 Adjarian Autonomous RepublicAdjara’s regional government has declared developing tourism one of its prime

priorities. The renewal of the seaside boulevard in Batumi, new five-star hotels and a project to restore much of “old Batumi” all demonstrate the government’s desire to develop tourism infrastructure in Batumi. Different types of tourism that can be supported in the region, awareness of environmental issues during infrastructure development, and steps to encourage the development of eco- and agro-tourism in Adjara’s mountains.

The most-supported view was that the regional and local governments should first of all support the development of eco- and agro-tourism in Adjara. Local governments should make finding the right strategy against environmental pollution a priority. Large industrial installations, such as Batumi’s seaport and the Batumi oil terminal will not discourage tourism if environmental and ecological norms are constantly and consistently considered. Participants also emphasized the important role of civil society together with the local governments in these processes.

Most of Ajara is hilly or mountainous and, outside the narrow coastal plain, there is little flat land. Partly as a result of this topography, agriculture is dominated by citrus, other fresh fruit and vegetables, and livestock, with limited production of cereals or other field crops. Most of locally-produced citrus are exported to markets in Ukraine. Otherwise, agricultural production is mainly for local markets, which are also supplied by imports from other parts of Georgia and from Turkey. Turkish products dominate supply in the shoulder seasons and in the out-of-season market when the markets are undersupplied from local sources. Farm sizes are small, averaging around 0.25 ha, with little evidence of land sales or rental. There is a substantial amount of state-owned farmland in Ajara which remains to be privatized. As elsewhere in Georgia, banks are reluctant to lend to agriculture and generally will not take small land parcels as collateral. As the autonomous republic, Ajara forms its own agricultural policy. The Regional Development Strategy for Ajara, approved in 2011, sees strong foundations for agricultural development but nonetheless recognised that these advantages are offset by small farm size, limited services to farmers, the age and condition of the fruit tree stock, and producers’ current strong orientation to local markets and hence the absence of price and quality signals that greater export orientation would provide.UNDP has provided support in Ajara over a number of years in business development. UNDP assisted in the preparation of a local development strategy and creation of a business incubator in Batumi, currently a major provider of business development services in Ajara. UNDP support to trade development focuses mainly on agriculture and aims at facilitating access to local and international markets, establishing supply chains and including those in the tourism industry. Trade-related services are provided to farmers and SMEs through a Trade Promotion Centre


based in the Batumi Business Incubator. Services include assessment of marketing opportunities for agricultural products and assisting clients of the Agroservice Centre in preparing business and marketing plans and in developing supply chains.

Main fields of agriculture in Ajara are: citrus production, fruit production, vegetable growing, animal farming. Traditional fields are: viniculture, fish breeding, grain farming, and bee-keeping. Auxiliary fields are: tea growing, silkworm breeding, tobacco manufacturing, and medicinal plant growing. Revenues from these kind of cultures will exceed 8-10 million GEL by 2015. Significant part of the production will be exported, while remaining output will be used for cannery manufacturing. 14% of subtropical cultures (subtropical persimmon, feijoa, actinidia, bay leaf) produced in Georgia account for Ajara.

For the local tourists Ajara is attractive because the opportunity of resting at the seaside and in addition due to the infrastructure of Batumi (novelty sights), which is developing quite sharply. As for the international tourists, they are mostly interested with ecotourism (visiting highlands of Ajara, sights of cultural heritages). It is considerable, that according to respondents, Batumi has more experience and traditions in touristic services (mainly marine tourism). However, as respondents note, works are in progress in order to improve service in other areas, as development of highland Ajara is an important priority. For the nearest future development of mountain skiing is planned, which will enable Ajara to become attractive for tourists in each season of year.

The quantitative research has shown that most of the tourists in Ajara prefer family type guesthouses and average price hotels. Some portion of tourists chooses family type guesthouses, while others stay at friends/relatives private apartments (non paid accommodations). Only 20% of tourists stay at hotels and most of them are international visitors.

The problem of rural tourism in Georgia is the lack of local development programs in this area, lack of communication and socio-technical infrastructure in the regions. Also hindering the development of eco-tourism in Georgia the tough business environment, the lack of legal protection and preferential loans, tax burden.

5.4 Legislative regulation

Legal status of rural tourism in Georgia is not defined, and it is a challenge to the development of this activity as workers often understood the definition of rural tourism differently and mean different things. And also a lack of clear legal framework hinders the creation of economic development strategies of this type of tourism, support programs and assistance.

The government supports efforts to establish new projects and facilities by offering not only low tax rates, but also an efficient regulatory framework and a skilled and educated workforce.

Government Policy and Initiatives towards Tourism Development:- Free Touristic Zones in Kobuleti and Anaklia;


-Creation of elite annual Winter resort in Mestia;-Development of Spa Cities around Georgia;-Anticipated annual tourist growth of 35 % in the next 3-5 years;- 8 National Parks;-Therapeutic Climate;-Ateni Bio Valley Development;-Youth Olympics in 2015.

Synergies arise by allowing people to explore the natural bounty of Georgia along with the other components of the Georgian Green Growth Strategy: agriculture and renewable energy. The holistic experience of tourism, organic agriculture and renewable energy lends an enjoyable approach to a sustainable lifestyle far from the highly supervised experience often associated with living sustainably.

The Georgian Government is therefore keen to raise the sustainability profile of ongoing and new tourism development projects with the aim of meeting current and future rising demand for tourism offers that not only leave no trace of degradation, but also contribute to preserving the country’s natural capital.

One vivid example of government support in this direction is a signed memorandum between Georgia’s Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources and Ministry of Finance and the French Development Agency. This memorandum envisages construction of a biomass heating station in the settlement of Mestia fuelled by a sustainable wood-energy supply chain that contributes to conserving forest resources.

The Georgian Government has taken bold steps forward towards greater integration into the global economy by:

- establishing international accords such as free trade agreements (FTA) with Turkey and the nations of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), and

- good safety practice (GSP) agreements with the European Union and the United States. In addition, Georgia is poised to establish FTAs with the EU and US. Investors specifically interested in developing agricultural products are most welcome. Together with such investors, the Georgian Government understands the long-term and ever renewing value of crop systems that avoid depleting the natural resources that made the harvest possible.

5.5 Certification agencies for international standards

Besides its rich natural resources, Georgia offers an institutional framework conducive to organic farming: local institutions and certification agencies are on hand that maintain expertise in the international standards relevant to organic agriculture. Government support for sustainable agriculture The agricultural sector is important to the Georgian economy. Recent years have seen agriculture gain greater prominence in the Georgian political agenda.


One vivid example of government support can be found in the state budget law for 2011, which earmarks a 78% increase for the Ministry of Agriculture. Huge steps have been made in terms of attracting foreign direct investment (FDI) to this specific sector. Entities willing to establish agricultural processing enterprises will be able to acquire agricultural land for only 20% of the market price. Investors in agricultural projects can rely on the following support provided by the Georgian Government, its Ministry of Agriculture and the Georgian National Investment Agency:

- 0% property tax on small plots of land (less than 5 ha)- 0% property tax on property transactions- 0% VAT on primary supply of agricultural products- 0% import duty on agricultural and other equipment-Opportunity for privatizing agricultural land (75% of all agricultural land is

state-owned).- 100% depreciation allowance on investments-Liberal labour regulations

Key problems in the legislative and legal issues of agrotourism in Georgia can be defined as follows:

-Legal illiteracy and weak knowledge of local residents of rural tourism;-Low financial possibilities for organization «green house»;-An insufficient accomplishment of rural houses, manors;-Absence of roads in settlements;-Advancement of a tourist's product of rural tourism on the market of tourist

services;-Absence of communication of tourism with culture;-Lack of quallity control;-Extreme insufficiency of the state support, as on regional and local level.

5.6 Formal and informal standards for agrotourism

Quallity certification standards contain criteria that assess quality in the areas of hospitality and customer service, safety, professionalism, accessibility, business operations, environmental impacts and partnership. The study revealed inexistence of clear, simple standards of agrotourism in Georgia that would assess customer experiences at agrotourism business. .There are no formal or informal, no any hotel or guesthouses standard in the country except Elkana (Biological Farming Association. Registered in January 2008) and some other entrepreneurs’ standards which work in this sector. National Tourism Association says that they work for the development of agrotourism standards but have no clear picture about its structure and containment yet. Working on the implementation of standards reveals necessary to increase of stakeholders’ recognition and acceptance of decisions – factors that are vital to the success of the agrotourism standards. Meetings with key stakeholders can introduce participants to quality standards and to gather input for the development of quality standards for agrotourism.


Due to this remarkable lack of standards, the project implementation has significant meaning for agrotiurism development in Georgia.

5.7 SWOT analysis of rural green tourism.

SWOT Analysis is a useful technique for understanding your Strengths and Weaknesses, and for identifying both the Opportunities open to rural toruism and the Threats it may face. SWOT-analysis in general does not contain economic categories and can be applied to any of the organizations and industries in general for building strategies in various fields of activity, including in rural tourism.

StrengthsWine country and traditional Georgian cuisine. The country’s historical legacy

as the birthplace of wine is an important strength that is being leveraged in the campaign “Europe Started here” which has launched in November 2007;

Rich cultural, historical and archeological heritage; Increasing demand on local agricultural products; national ethnographic feature area (popular culture, everyday life, customs,

rituals, crafts, regional holidays, etc.); Impressive natural scenery and geographic location of the estate (availability of

nearby forests, lakes, etc.);climatic features of the location of the green estate; low incidence of crime; traditional hospitality of the population (openness and honesty in

communication, good arrangement and cleanliness of estates, regional dishes, etc.); tremendous opportunity for growth;Diversified agrarian sector of the region.

Weaknessespollution of the environment (the presence of objects with significant

emissions of harmful substances into the environment, storage of toxic substances, contaminated water, etc.);

lack of signage and information;poor protection of archeological, natural and historic sites; inadequate guesthouses for foreign groups (e.g. shower-toilet combinations

etc.); lack of shopping opportunities; insufficient transportation capacity;proliferation of garbage and absence of receptacies; lack of clean modern toilets; lack of a clear development strategy of green tourism at the district level;competition and lack of coordination between the various organizations

involved in promotion of green tourism, preventing the implementation of common strategic development of the industry.


Opportunities promotion of new services. Information dissemination to guesthouses on how

to cater to western tourists;upgrade and supplement existing signage, especially in English; improving the quality of services provided; further develop niche tourism (e.g. wine, health, cultural); improvement of technical equipment of the estate;government-sponsored park rangers to give tours and monitor littering (as well

as create tour-guide standards);more English language information dissemination; support of local and regional tourist and hotel associations; improvement of the natural origin (wood, stone, etc.) estate interior and

exterior household items; supporting the development of related activities which are a source of

additional income and varies the recriation: breeding of bees, gathering and drying of mushrooms, berries, hunting;

development and implementation of green travel routes (hiking, bicycle, etc.); flexible pricing;obtaining international grants;establishing interregional cooperation;modernization of traditional folk culture, rituals, domestic crafts and cuisine; improvement of the environment; the possibility of preferential loans for farmsteads;arrival of tourists contributes to the protection and restoration of cultural and

historical sites of the region;providing new jobs to increase employment of rural population (e.g. service

industry, medicine, transport network); slow down the migration of youth to cities and abroad in search of work.

Threats lack of qualified personnel; political and economic instabilities in Georgia and region; unfavorable demographic situation;unstable political and economic situation ; international perceptions on safety of Georgia;prohibitive transportation costs in getting to Georgia;poor knowledge of languages by the owner and the staff of the farmsteads; slow development of methodological, organizational and educational

information; increasing competition from neighbor countries;economic stagnation and deterioration of infrastructure and socio-economic

standards of living;great ecological pressure on natural resources by a growing number of

tourists.


Due to SWOT-analysis we can identify the current level and prospects of rural green tourism. Conducting a SWOT-analysis also provides the possibility to define territorial characteristics and current direction of the agrotourism, concentrate logistical investment, organizational, economic and other facilities for their needs.

5.8 The analysis of questionnaire

The National Travel Association provided a list of 1062 tourist enterpreneurs who were registered with their department. They were telephoned with random survey principle. They were asked whether their farm business agrotourism ancilor value-added processing. If the answer was no, the interview ended. If yes, then they were asked to complete the questionnaire. A cover letter was enclosed with each of the questionnaires, wtiich explained the importance and purpose of the suwey. 20 questionnaires were retumed ai this time. The respondents were presented from the various regions of Georgia. If the questionnaire was still not completed, they were telephoned once more.

Most enterpreneurs which deal with agritourism consider themselves as a "guest house" - 80 % of respondents, 20% are positioning themselves as a "familyhotel" and no respondent chose “Villa” and "farm" (perhaps because of the business difficulty). The vast majority (100 %) of respondents answered possess more than 10 beds. On the question, "Which category is your tourism enterprise?" the answeres equally shared by 40 % between one and two star and 20% indicated three star. It has to be mentioned that mostly this categorisation is declared by the enterprise itself without any quallity control. 85% of enterpreneurs hires labour force and 25 % leads the business on their own. It somehow confirms a question about the number of sits in the company. 65 % of owners confirmed that they have higher education and 35 % had a negative answer on this question, which is not relevant to the answers of the following question about tourism education, where 100% of respondents confirmed that they are educated in this sphere, some of them added that they gained education through various seminares only. On the question about staff education, the answeres were devided by 25% between “Everybody”, “Great part”, “Small part” and “Nobody”. This question can can be analyzed only in part because some part of business holders simply do not use labour force. With regard to language skills we have good results, as 100 % of estates can host foreign tourists in English and Russian languages. 9% indicated that they speak French and Italian and 1% - in Polish as well. About stuff’s language knowledge, 85% answered that the employees speak at least one foreign language. The answer on this question was negative (25%) for those enterprises who do not hire labour force at all. Computer technology is used by all respondents, the main purpose of their useis: booking – 60%, web page management - 40%, for promoution – 40 %. Only few percentage of respondents (20%) uses technology for both purposes. All of the companies use internet for advertising their tourism enterprise and for exploring tourism market. 20% use “Visit Cards”, Catalogues” and “verbal Communication” for promotion and this part of enterpreneurs use tourist guides for gaining more informashion about tourism market too. 95% use the services of a tourist information centers and all of them use services of tourist agency. Vast majority


(95%) of respondents said that they don’t have quality certificate, they have never applied for quallity standards and they are not members of tourism association. Only one respondent confirmed that they own quallity certificate, they have applied for quallity standards and they are member of tourism association. The same percentage (95%) have never participaed in any professional courses for improvement of the management culture of entrepreneurs in rural tourism. Vast majority (95%) sais that there have never been any quality control exercised on their business. 5% of respodents said that the control was performed by Biological Farming Association – Elkana, which has no legal rules for helding quallity control. On the question of “What kind of additional services do you offer your customers”, 5% confirmed using only “Guided tours”, 40% use “Wildlife, bird watching”, “Traditional handicraft” and “Cooking local food” as well. Only 5% of respondents offer all additional cervices to their customers. The main objective of their business for 40% of respondents is “Attracting more international tourists”, another 40% has business for “Increasing the number of the customers”, 20% wants to “Improve quality of the tourism product”. All respondents expressed desire of certifying their business. Majority (95%) of enterpreneurs sees “Poor infrastructure in the region” as the main obstracle for their business development. For 5% of respondents the “Lack of managerial culture in tourism” is a main problem for the prosperity of your business.

The survey show that the neterpreneursare not demanded to have any certain quality standards for launching their business. There is no organisation which has authority of helding quallity control. The businesses have desire for certification, which will help them to become more attractive for tourists.

6. GREECE

1. INTRODUCTION

Tourism was always regarded as the “heavy industry” of Greece. Hence, the development of an

alternative tourism product of high quality and standards adapted to those internationally employed

will be of major importance for the flourishing of the tourism sector and the enhancement of

entrepreneurship which will lead to the socioeconomic development of the region in the midst of the

financial crisis that turbulences most of the Southern European countries.

For the above mentioned reasons, the Municipality of Xanthi decided to exploit the initiative given by

EU funding instruments and submit as Lead Partner the project proposal called “Quality Certification

System in Agrotourism” (CerTour) joining forces with other organisations from the Black Sea region.

The present study of current status was conducted in the framework of Activity 1.1 of the above

mentioned project which is funded by the Joint Operational programme “Black Sea Basin 2007-2013”.

Main aim to the study is to examine the current situation related to agrotourism and the services

provided in the region of Xanthi. Furthermore, it investigates the existence of official and unofficial

standards along with their applicability and effectiveness in cases where those kinds of standards exist.


The specifications for this study were set by Partner 1 of the project, “Black Sea Economic Centre”

(Bulgaria) who also designed the questionnaire that was used for information gathering. In order to

further facilitate the information gathering and increase the validity of the research results, the study

team of the Municipality of Xanthi decided to design a third questionnaire addressing to entrepreneurs

of other sectors – outside accommodation- and public bodies related to tourism.

The study of the current status in agrotourism sector in the region of Xanthi will be a useful tool which

together with the studies developed by the other partners will form the basis for the implementation of

the Gap Analysis (Activity 1.3).


2. METHODOLOGY

2.1 GENERAL

The development of the present study was based on information gathered from the following sources:

Web- bibliography concerning the current status of agrotourism in Xanthi

Site visits to selected agrotourism accommodations in the region and discussions with

entrepreneurs of agrotourism sector

Discussions with representatives of other enterprises related to the tourism product of the region

3 questionnaires with different content which were completed by respondents coming from

different target groups, more precisely:

Questionnaire addressing to entrepreneurs who own accommodation facilities in the

region of the Municipality of Xanthi

Questionnaire addressing to entrepreneurs operating in other business sectors and to

public sector bodies related to tourism

Questionnaire addressing to visitors/tourists in the region

The questionnaires were completed either directly by the respondents or by members of the

team that developed the study who received the answers via telephone or skype. The content of

the questionnaires is described below.

2.2 QUESTIONNAIRE FOR ACCOMMODATION ENTREPRENEURS

The content of the questionnaires addressing to entrepreneurs who own agrotourism accommodation

was derived from the Specifications for the present study, which were designed by the “Black Sea

Economic Centre” in the framework of the CerTour project, and involves the following sections:

Data related to the type, the capacity and the category of the accommodation

Data related to the human resources of the accommodation (general education, training on

tourism, foreign language fluency)

Data related to the promotion of the accommodation and the provision of information to the

public

Data related to the implementation of quality systems or quality standards

List of services offered by the accommodation

Aims of the accommodation business and problems faced in its operation which are related to

external factors


The format of the questionnaire is attached to Annex A of the present study

Taking into consideration that the study specifications stipulated the completion of 20 such

questionnaires, 21 questionnaires were completed and gathered which are attached in Annex B

2.3 QUESTIONNAIRE FOR ENTREPRENEURS OF OTHER SECTORS (OUTSIDE ACCOMMODATION)

The content of the questionnaire addressing to entrepreneurs of other sectors – outside accommodation

– and public bodies related to tourism was not identified in the specification study of the "Black Sea

Economic Centre". Therefore, it was designed by the team that developed the present study and

includes:

Information concerning the type of the organization / enterprise that the respondent represents

Services offered by the organisation / enterprise

Estimation concerning the satisfaction level of the visitors / tourists on the tourism product of

the region and more precisely:

the completeness of the services offered

their quality

the speed of service to visitors / tourists/ clients

the effectiveness of the service (namely the satisfaction of the customers’ needs)

Especially for the third question of the questionnaire, the respondents were asked to evaluate the

satisfaction degree of the visitors / tourists, not only from their business but from the tourism product

of the region in general and namely the services that are related to those that their own business offers.

The aim of this question is to demonstrate the perception of whether the region meets the visitors’

needs and to compare this perception with the real degree of customer satisfaction

The following chart demonstrates the number of questionnaires completed classified according to the

type of organization / enterprise compared to the number that it was stipulated in the specification

study of the "Black Sea Economic Centre"

Type of enterprise / organisation Estimated number of questionnaires

Total number of completed

questionnaires

1. Operators 4-8 2

2. Local Authorities – Development Agencies 8-16 8


3. Transportation businesses 8-16 8

4. Accommodation businesses 8-16 (βλ. Νο 7)

5. Catering businesses 4-8 16

6. Cafe - Bars - Pubs 0 8

7. Entrepreneurs in the accommodation sector (*) 20 21

8. Tourist agencies 8-16 8

9. Guide services 4-8 4

10. Tourist Information Centres 4-8 4

11. Retail shop services 0 12

12. Services supporting tourism businesses 0 2

Total 60-100 72

(*) In this category 21 questionnaires for accommodation enterprises were completed (see. 2.2)

Obviously the specifications set by the "Black Sea Economic Centre" were adapted to the local

conditions of the study. Indicatively, it is mentioned that it was regarded necessary to complete more

questionnaires than those stipulated for the businesses operating in the catering sector and to further

add the business categories “Café-Bars – Pubs”, “Commercial businesses for tourist products” and

“Services for the support of tourism enterprises”

The format of the questionnaire is attached to Annex C of the present study while the completed

questionnaires to Annex D

2.4 QUESTIONNAIRE FOR VISITORS / TOURISTS

The content of the questionnaire for visitors / tourists of the region was designed by the "Black Sea

Economic Centre" and includes the following question sections:

Personal information of the respondent (country of origin, age, sex and occupation)

The reasons why the respondent chose this particular tourism destination

The source of information concerning the destination, the way of booking and the means of

travelling

The activities in which the respondent was involved during their stay (attractions visited,

activities in which the respondent participated and the events attended). This section involves

closed multiple choice questions and open questions

The degree of satisfaction concerning the plan of the trip, the accommodation, the offered

services and the first impression upon the arrival. At this point the respondent is asked to also

express his/her expectations


The overall assessment of the advantages (strengths) and disadvantages (points for

improvement) of the region, the total evaluation and the intention to re-visit this particular

destination or the intention to recommend it to this family and friends

The format of the questionnaire is attached to Annex E of the present study

Taking into consideration the specification study had stipulated 40-80 completed questionnaires of this

type, a total of 54 questionnaires were completed which are attached to Annex of the study of visitors /

customers needs and expectation and are deliverable of Activity which form the project’s work

deliverable. (Activity 1.2 of the project "Quality Certification System in Agrotourism")


3. QUESTIONNAIRE RESULTS FOR ACCOMMODATION ENTREPRENEURS

3.1 PROFILE OF THE ACCOMMODATION

Age of the accommodation

The age of the accommodation that completed the

questionnaire is demonstrated in the diagram.

However, the region has some older

accommodations but the vast majority is no older

than 15 years. This is a result of the implementation

of the EU programme “Leader” which in different

forms funded aggoroutism accommodations in the

region

Age of the accommodation

1-5 years14%

6-10 years57%

11-15 years29%

Type of the accommodation

The accommodations participating in the research

were by type:

Guest houses: 7

Villas: 1

Farms: 7

Family hotels: 6

Type of the accommodation

Guest house33%

Villa5%

Farm33%

Family hotel29%


Capacity of the accommodation

The categories of accommodation that participated

in the research by their capacity is as following:

=< 10 beds: 7

> 10 beds: 14

In reality, the region has a higher percentage of

accommodations with capacity over 10 beds than the

one that appears in the responses of the

questionnaire but they did not participate in the

research

Capacity of the accommodation

=<10 beds33%

>10 beds67%

Category of the accommodation

The categories of accommodations are expressed in

stars or, in the case of rooms to let, in keys. The

accommodations that participated in the research are

classified in the following categories:

1 star (or key): 5

2 stars (or key): 12

3 stars (or key): 14

This allocation is representative for accommodations

of the region even though there is a small number of

accommodation of greater category

Category of the accommodation

1 star (key)24%

2 stars (keys)57%

3 stars (keys)19%


3.2 HUMAN RESOURCES

Employment of staff

The respondents answered whether their business

employs staff – even seasonal – outside their family

members. The answers display the following

distribution:

Employment of staff - Yes: 12

Employment of staff - No: 9

It should be noted that the staff is mainly employed

on a part-time or seasonal basis

Do you use hired labor?

Yes57%

No43%

Owner's educational level

In the question whether the owner of the

accommodation (or its manager) is a higher

education graduate, the responses are distributed as

follows:

Yes: 4

No: 17

It should be stressed that the percentage of higher

education graduates among owners/ managers of

accommodation is very low

Tertiary education degree (owner)

Yes19%

No81%


Education of the owners in tourism

In the question whether the owner of the

accommodation (or its manager) is educated in the

field of tourism, the answers are distributed as

follows:

Yes: 3

No: 18

It should be stressed that the percentage among

owners / managers of the accommodation with

education in the field of tourism is very low

Education in tourism (owner)

Yes14%

No86%

Education of the staff in tourism

In the question whether the employees of the

accommodation (when the accommodation has staff)

are educated in the field of tourism, the answers are

distributed as follows:

All: 0

The majority: 0

The minority: 4

None: 8

The substantial lack of education of the employees

in the field of tourism should be stressed

Education in tourism (staff)

The minority33%

Noone67%


Foreign languages (owner)

The participants in the research were asked if and

which languages are used in the accommodation

either by the owner or by the members of his/her

family. The responses were:

English: in 8 accommodations

German: in 2 accommodations

French: in 1 accommodation

Bulgarian: in 1 accommodation

In 12 accommodations the owners don’t speak any

foreign language

Foreign languages (owner)

8

21 1

12

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

English German French Bulgarian None

Foreign languages (staff)

The participants in the research were asked whether

their staff (if there is) knows foreign languages. The

responses were:

All: σε κανένα κατάλυμα

The majority: in 2 accommodations

The minority: in 8 accommodations

None: in none accommodation

Businesses that employ 1 employee (not always the

same due to the seasonal nature of the business) who

knows occasionally a foreign language were

registered in the category "The minority"

Foreign languages (staff)

The majority17%

The minority66%

Noone17%


Training in tourism

The question whether the entrepreneurs (owners or

managers) of the accommodation are trained in the

field of tourism (seminars) received the following

answers:

Yes: 4

No: 17

The low level of entrepreneurs who are trained is

stressed

Training in tourism (seminars)

Yes19%

No81%

3.3 PROMOTION AND INFORMATION

Use of computer

In the question of whether and for what reason the

businesses use a computer, the answers were:

For reservations: 4

For webpage management: 7

For promotion of the business: 14

No use: 6

Use of computer

4

7

14

6

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

Reserv ations Web page

management

Promotion No use


Methods of advertisement

The advertisement of the accommodation, according to the responses in the respective question, is

done with a combination of various methods. The number of accommodations in the sample that use

these methods is:

Via Internet: 14

Via brochures: 7

Via tourist catalogue: 8

Via visit cards: 17

Via television: 1

Via radio: 0

Via tourist events/ expos: 2

Via website: 10

Via verbal communication: 19

No advertisement: 0

Methods of advertisement

14

78

17

10

2

10

19

00

4

8

12

16

20

Internet Brochures Catalogues Visit cards TV Radio Tourist fairs Internet site Verbal

communication

No

adv ertisement

Expansion of the tourism market

In the question of which way the businesses use to expand their tourism market, the answer from 13

businesses is that this is accomplished via Internet. None of the businesses stated the use of tourist

catalogue or cooperation with marketing business while 8 businesses gave no answer on whether they

investigate the expansion of the market

Use of centres offering tourist information services


None of the participating businesses answered that they use services offered by centres of tourist

information

Use of services of a tourist agency


they use the services of a tourist agency. The

answers were:

Yes: 12

No: 9

It is noted that most of the businesses even though

that they are classified as small enterprises, they use

the services of a tourist agency obviously in order to

attract clients

Use of services of a tourist agency

Yes

57%

No

43%

Membership in tourist association


they participate individually or as businesses in

tourist associations, outside those that it is obligatory

to participate (eg. chambers). The answers were:

Yes: 16

No: 5

Membership in tourist association

Yes

76%

No

24%

3.4 QUALITY RELATED ISSUES

Quality certifications and implementation of standards and specification


From the businesses that participated in the research, only one has quality certification and implements

quality standards or specifications

Third party quality control

The 21 businesses participating in the research, in

the question of whether they experience a third party

quality control in the past, answered

Yes: 7

No: 14

It is clarified that the control is performed by the

Hellenic Tourism Organisation in order to identify

whether the businesses meet the criteria stipulated

by the national legal and regulatory framework (and

in this sense it is quality control)

Third party quality control

Yes

33%

No

67%

Intention to be certified

The respondents were asked to express their

intention to have their business certified or not. The

answers were:

Yes: 15

No: 6

It is clarified that almost all of the participants who

gave a positive response were not informed and

asked for more and detailed information in order to

determine their final decision. However, it seems

that they are convinced of the benefits of the

certification.

Intention to be certified

Yes

71%

No

29%

3.5 ADDITIONAL SERVICES PROVIDED

The additional services offered by the accommodation businesses of the region according to the

responses of the participants in the research are:

Guided tour: 3 accommodations

Short walk/stroll: 16 accommodations


Long walk/hiking: 4 accommodations

Boating: 3 accommodations

Wildlife/ bird watching: 0 accommodations

Horse riding: 0 accommodations

Cycling: 0 accommodations

Mountain biking: 0 accommodations

Cooking local food: 14 accommodations

Traditional handicraft: 2 accommodations

Agricultural process: 0 accommodations

Picnic/Barbeque: 10 accommodations

As it is known among the study team, in the region the additional services that appear to have zero

value in the results are offered, but this services is not offered by the businesses that participated in the

research

Additional services

3

16

43

0 0 0 0

14

2

0

10

0

4

8

12

16

20

Guided tour Short

w alk/stroll

Long w alk,

hiking

Boating Wildlife, bird

w atching

Horse riding Cy cling Mountain

biking

Cooking local

food

Traditional

handicraft

Agricultural

process

Picnic or

BBQ


3.6 OBJECTIVES AND PROBLEMS OF THE BUSINESSES

Objective of the business

The entrepreneurs that participated in the research

were asked to name the main strategic objectives of

their businesses for the upcoming period. The

answers were:

Improving the quality: 7

Increasing the number of the customers: 20

Improving the efficiency of the enterprise: 7

Attracting more international tourists: 3

Objective of the business

7

20

7

3

0

5

10

15

20

25

Improv ing the

quality

Increasing the

number of the

customers

Improv ing the

efficiency of

the enterprise

Attracting more

international

tourists

Problems of the business

In the question of which are the problems that hinder

the prosperity of the business the answers were:

Poor infrastructure in the region: 4

Insufficient transport links: 8

Poor road infrastructure: 1

Lack of managerial culture: 9

Large bureaucracy in procedures: 15

Other problems that were mentioned but are not

included in the options of the questionnaire were the

insufficient access to funding, the financial crisis of

the country and the phenomena of corruption

Problems that hinder the prosperity of the business

4

8

1

9

15

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

Poor

infrastructure

Insufficient

transport links

Poor road

infrastructure

Managerial

culture

Large

bureaucracy


4. RESULTS OF THE QUESTIONNAIRE OF ENTREPRENEURS OUTISIDE THE ACCOMMODATION SECTOR

4.1 GENERAL

The overall results of the questionnaires received from tourism entrepreneurs outside accommodation

are displayed in the following charts:

TYPE OF ORGANISATION NUMBER OF QUESTIONNAIRES

1. Agency of tourism interest or content 2

2. Municipality / Development Agency 8

3. Transportation business 8

4. Catering business 16

5. Cafe - bar - pub 8

6. Tourist agency 8

7. Agency providing tourist information 4

8. Guide services 4

9. Retail shop 12

10. Service supporting tourism businesses 2

SERVICES PROVIDED SERVICES PROVIDERS

1. Provision of tourism information 12

2. Promotion of tourism product 7

3. Transportation 8

4. Catering services 19

5. Entertainment services 15

6. Services of tourist agencies 7

7. Tourist guides 6

8. Retail shop services 12

9. Service supporting tourism businesses 8

LEVEL OF CUSTOMERS SATISFACTION(*) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

From the adequacy of the services 1 2 6 12 27 16 23 7

From the quality of the services 6 13 9 18 25 15 8


From the speed of servicing (**) 1 5 5 13 8 29 25 6

From the effectiveness of servicing 3 5 21 12 29 23 1

From the cost of services 1 10 4 14 19 27 16 3(*) Number of responses(**) In two questionnaires the particular criterion of satisfaction was not rated

4.2 ESTIMATED LEVEL OF SATISFACTION PER TYPE OF SERVICES

For each type of service, the estimated level of satisfaction per satisfaction factor is demonstrated in

the following charts:

Satisfaction from the provision of tourist information

7.6

6.9

7.7

7.2

7.6

5.0

6.0

7.0

8.0

9.0

10.0

Completeness ofservices

Quality of theservices

Speed ofservicing

Effectiveness ofservicing

Cost of services

Average: 7.4


Satisfaction from the promotion of the tourist product

6.0 5.9

7.0

6.1

6.9

5.0

6.0

7.0

8.0

9.0

10.0



Speed ofservicing


Cost of services

Average: 6.4

Satisfaction from the transportation services

7.8

6.8

7.4 7.3

8.1

5.0

6.0

7.0

8.0

9.0

10.0



Speed ofservicing


Cost of services

Average: 7.5


Satisfaction from the catering services

8.1 8.18.3

7.9

7.5

5.0

6.0

7.0

8.0

9.0

10.0



Speed ofservicing


Cost of services

Average: 8.0

Satisfaction from the entertainment services

8.2 8.2 8.17.8 7.8

5.0

6.0

7.0

8.0

9.0

10.0



Speed ofservicing


Cost of services

Average: 8.0


Satisfaction from the services of tourist agencies

8.1

7.4

8.07.7

7.0

5.0

6.0

7.0

8.0

9.0

10.0



Speed ofservicing


Cost of services

Average: 7.6

Satisfaction from the services of tourist guides

7.2 7.3 7.27.5

6.3

5.0

6.0

7.0

8.0

9.0

10.0



Speed ofservicing


Cost of services

Average: 7.1


Satisfaction from retail shops services

6.8

7.7

7.2

7.6

5.4

5.0

6.0

7.0

8.0

9.0

10.0



Speed ofservicing


Cost of services

Average: 6.9

Satisfaction from the services supporting tourism business

6.8

5.3

6.16.4

6.9

5.0

6.0

7.0

8.0

9.0

10.0



Speed ofservicing


Cost of services

Average: 6.3

The overall estimated level of satisfaction per criterion is shown in the following chart:


Satisfaction per criterion

7.57.3

7.67.4

7.1

5.0

6.0

7.0

8.0

9.0

10.0



Speed ofservicing


Cost of services

Average: 7.4

The overall estimated level of satisfaction per type of services and the overall average can be shown in

the following chart:

Average satisfaction per type of services

7.4

6.4

7.5

8.0 8.0

7.6

7.16.9

6.3

5.0

6.0

7.0

8.0

9.0

10.0

Touristinformation

Touristpromotion

Transportation Catering Entertainment Touristagencies

Tourist guides Retail shops Supportingserv ices

Average: 7.2


5. RESULTS OF THE QUESTIONNAIRE FOR VISITORS - TOURISTS

Out of the 23 questions from the questionnaire for visitors – tourists, for the aims of the present study

the results of question 21 are employed which asks from the respondents to assess their overall

impression from their trip and to identify some of the factors as advantages or disadvantages of the

region they visited. The structure of the question where the number of characterisations for each factor

is demonstrated, is as follows:

21. What is your overall impression and assessment? Which of the following is an advantage or disadvantage for the region?

Advantage Disadvantage

48 1. Nature 2

38 2. People, Hospitality, Traditions 2

8 3. Infrastructure, Utilities 30

19 4. Information 40

8 5. Transport Access 32

41 6. Food 2

13 7. Services 18

13 8. Security 15

17 9. Hygiene 11

27 10. Tranquility, peace 3

15 11. Variety of additional activities 9

1 12. Other (please specify) 1

The overall results of the responses are shown in the following charts where the strengths and

weaknesses of the region, according to the visitors’ perception, are demonstrated:


Advantages - Disadvantages (Strengths - Weaknesses)

-50

-40

-30

-20

-10

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

Nature Food People,hospitality,traditions

Tranquility,peace

Information Hygiene Additionalactivities

Security Service Infrastructure,utilities

Transportaccess


6. SWOT ANALYSIS

6.1 STRENGTHS

The relatively recent establishment of accommodations in the region which documents – in

general – recent construction and allows the provision of many comforts

The non existing need for immediate renovation in the majority of accommodations due to their

relatively recent establishment

The ability to communicate in a foreign language exists in the majority of the accommodations

(either by the owner or by the employees)

The satisfactory degree of communication between agrotourism accommodation businesses and

tourist agencies

The participation of the vast majority of businesses in tourism trade unions related to tourism

sector

The provision to the visitors / tourists of a wide range of additional tourist services in the study

area

The positive performance of the region in offering certain services (such as good food,

entertainment opportunities and services of tourist agencies) that contributes to the satisfiaction

of the tourists / visitors

The natural environment of the region

The hospitable attitude of entrepreneurs, employees and inhabitants of the region towards

tourists / visitors

6.2 WEAKNESSES

The relatively low category (stars - keys) of accommodations are a disincentive for the potential

visitors

The seasonal operation of accommodations has as a result the increased operational cost of the

businesses

The employment of non permanent staff, usually of limited skills and without special

knowledge in the field of tourist services

The relatively low level of training of both owners and employees in general fields and fields of

management of tourist accommodations

The limited administrative and managerial capacity of the enterpreneurs of the agrotourism

sector


The introversion of the businesses and their lack of attracting a significant number of visitors

from abroad

The negative performance of the region in providing specific services (such as effective tourism

promotion, guide services, shopping services and other supportive services) create

dissatisfaction to the tourists / visitors

6.3 OPPORTUNITIES

The apparent reorientation of tourists towards destinations and activities of agrotouristic

character

The new programming period of European Union funding programmes for which all the

involved stakeholders (public administration, agencies and enterprises) should prepare

themselves properly to achieve the best possible exploitation

The possibilities offered by information and communication technologies for the improvement

of business operation, better promotion of the tourism product and cost reduction

The intention of businesses of the agrotourism sector to certify themselves according to quality

standards after being informed

The project "Quality Certification in Agrotourism - CerTour" and the cross-border relations

developed in the framework of its implementation

6.4 THREATS

The extension of the financial crisis that will discourage visitors from travelling and vacationing

or will impose the decrease in the number of overnight stays and the use of additional services

The extension of the particularly limited funding for both the operational costs of the businesses

and the investments on modernisation or infrastructure

The apparent inability of the Hellenic Tourism Organisation to reciprocate its responsibilities

The insufficient infrastructure in the region of the study and more particularly the limited

transportation network from and to agrotourism destinations which threatens to cancel the

promotion activities of the region and its businesses

The stiffness of public administration, bureaucracy and the often occurring phenomena of

corruption

The tourism promotion of the region which is often of limited effectiveness


Documents

· Web viewCONSOLIDATED REPORT ON CURRENT STATUS OF RURAL AND AGROTOURISM SECTOR IN GREECE, BULGARIA, MOLDOVA, ARMENIA, GEORGIA AND UKRAINE. January 2014. Table of Contents. ABSTRACT2