Batumi Boulevard Development Plan
This week, Batumi Boulevard announced plans to open a tender for a company to provide functional zoning and landscaping on and around the boulevard. The boulevard is being updated in accordance with city development plans, which include preserving the historic parts of the boulevard and expanding its footprint, with particular emphasis on preserving its character and nearby historic buildings.
The Batumi Boulevard was born in 1881 as a seaside park built by a German landscape artist, commissioned by the governor of Batumi. Today’s boulevard, divided into old and new parts, is approximately 7 kilometers long.
The company selected by the Batumi Boulevard will have one year to complete the work, at a cost of 435,000 GEL ($151,300). The three-part project will include research, the creation of a development plan, and the production of guidelines for the administrators of the Batumi Boulevard to follow. The project aims to produce a development plan that will preserve the landscape and architectural beauty of the old Boulevard, while establishing new recreation areas that can be enjoyed by both locals and tourists, and people of all ages and abilities. The deadline to submit a bid is August 19.
The announcement is part of a series of efforts over the past few years to update and improve the tourist infrastructure of Batumi.
In June 2016, then-Chairman of the Government of the Autonomous Republic of Adjara, Archil Khabadze, announced plans to invest $40 million in the development and reconstruction of the New Boulevard of Batumi. The original plan allocated 50% of the territory to tourist-recreation zones, and included the construction of hotels and other tourist-focused facilities.
32,000 square meters of the New Boulevard of Batumi was previously been put up for auction with a starting price of $2.3 million. Orbi Group Millennium Construction Company bought it for $4.3 million. More than $520 million was invested in the New Boulevard’s reconstruction in 2016.
In August 2018, the Municipal Development Fund of the Ministry of Regional Development and Infrastructure, supported by the Asian Development Bank (ADB), announced plans to commit $21 million to protect beaches and refurbish pedestrian bridges in the city. 12 pedestrian bridges will be constructed, and the damaged sections of the boulevard will be refurbished. The works are scheduled to be completed this year. In 2015, a similar project amounting to $20 million was also supported by the ADB.
Among all the investment and ad-hoc projects, this week’s announcement marks the beginning of a new phase of development for the Batumi Boulevard, which will be led and framed in by a development plan. The most recent Batumi Development Strategy, 2018-2021 was approved by the Batumi City Assembly in April of last year. “For the first time in the history of the municipality, we managed to develop a full 2018-2021 strategy for Batumi Municipality. This is a 240-page document, a very detailed book, for each service, in which all the measures necessary to achieve the goals set for the next four years, all the methods, timelines, budget, etc. are broken down into detail,” said Batumi Mayor Lasha Komakhidze.
In the nearby town of Kobuleti, earlier this month renovations were completed on a two-kilometer stretch of coastline. The Municipal Development Fund of Georgia headed the renovation works, which cost GEL 9 million ($3.13 mln). The World Bank funded GEL 2 million ($70,000) of the total cost, with the state budget covering the rest. The rehabilitation works in Kobuleti began in 2017, but were delayed. The contract with the original construction company was cancelled after public outrage at the delays, and, ultimately, the State Construction Company completed the project.
Source: www.georgiatoday.ge, By Samantha Guthrie
Image source: In Your Pocket
Euronews: “Batumi as a center of youth culture”
Euronews has recently published an article about Batumi, a seaside town in Georgia. Thearticle reads that the city witnesses a tourism boom after winning the 2019 title of “Europe’s Leading Emerging Tourism Destination” at the prestigious World Travel Awards. With the number of tourists increased, new hotels have also appeared in Batumi.
“It’s also gaining a reputation as a center of youth culture. Joseph, a young street-artist, believes his city has much more to offer. He’s confident that soon Batumi will be a focal point for creative youth and compete on an equal footing with the capital, Tbilisi,” reads the article about Batumi.
According to the article “Georgia on their minds: why tourists are flocking to the Black Sea”, new trends in Georgia are influenced by the country’s rich culture and history. The article reviews two important cultural heritage of Georgia: wine and polyphonic singing.
The unique ecosystem of Adjara makes it possible to switch between beach and mountains. Due to the diverse experiences available for tourists in Batumi, locals hope they will have a successful season.
Source: www.georgianjournal.ge
NY Times Includes Batumi in 52 Places to Go in 2019
The New York Times published a list of ‘52 Places to Go in 2019,’ which includes Georgia’s Black Sea coastal city Batumi.
The article reads that Tbilisi, Georgia’s capital, has been flooded with tourists over the past decade, adding Batumi, a “hushed seaside city where verdant mountains slope down to the Black Sea’s smooth stone beaches,” offers a different experience.
“Already a popular escape for Russians, Iranians, Turks and Israelis, the city is preparing itself for its inevitable discovery by the rest of the world: new hotels — including the Le Meridien Batumi and a Batumi installment of the design-centric boutique Rooms Hotel line — are rising, and a cable car will swing straight to the coast from the hilltop Batumi Botanical Garden,” the article reads.
Top 10 destinations of the list are:
- Puerto Rico
- Hampi
- Santa Barbara
- Panama
- Munich
- Eliat
- Setouchi Islands
- Aalborg
- The Azores
- Ontario Ice Caves
Source:Georgiatoday.ge
Georgian Adventures: Pedal power in Batumi
n this episode of Georgian adventures, we jump on one of the hire bikes in Batumi, the booming capital of the Autonomous Republic of Adjara.
“Batumi is one of Georgia’s largest cities and its best known Black Sea resort,” said our reporter Denis Loctier as he peddled along the promenade.
“This coastline boulevard is Batumi’s most famous attraction!”
What originated in the late 19th century as a seaside boardwalk is now a lush seven-kilometre park promenade with dancing fountains, modern sculptures, beach bars and cafés. It is a great place for a leisurely stroll and, even better, for a scenic two-wheel ride.
Pedal-friendly whatever the weather, Batumi is stunning for bike-lovers when the sun shines!
“A bicycle is a very convenient way to see the main attractions of Batumi,” said local student and cycling enthusiast Maia Japaridze.
“It’s not a very big city. You could walk across it in a day and if you get a bike you can get around Batumi very quickly.”
The city is lined with bicycle lanes, offering picturesque views and a refreshing breeze to those who prefer their seaside vacation in the saddle!
Source: Euronews.com
Batumi to Host International Rural Tourism Conference
The second International Conference of Rural Tourism will be held in Batumi on October 19-20. The main topic of the conference will be “Rural Tourism as Business”.
The conference will present presentations, reports and seminars by invited Georgian and foreign experts, and introductory practical visits will be arranged on tourist routes throughout the Adjara region.
The topics of the Conference include:
Village and village life as a tourist product, business and source of income;
Innovative services and tourist products to maintain rural / village authenticity in parallel with innovative services;
Rural tourism development prospects and challenges in the Adjara region/tourist infrastructure in rural areas;
General standards of rural tourism (service standards, types of family guest houses, etc.);
Georgian hospitality and hospitality as a business;
State programs in rural tourism development in Georgia and other countries;
Competition in rural tourism, positive and negative impacts and sides of the competition;
Attracting tourists in rural areas and advertising.
The conference will be attended by the owners of family guest houses, tourist agencies, the representatives of the different fields of rural and eco-tourism, as well as the representatives of governmental and non-governmental organizations.
“In the Adjara region, rural tourism is at the initial stage of development, so it is important for us to get acquainted with the international experience and successful business examples of rural tourism.
“Although the locals of Adjara region have started to actively engage in tourism sphere and the number of the providers of family guest houses and other tourist services is significantly increasing, there is still a lot of work in the direction of tourism business development,” said Tinatin Zoidze, Director of Tourism Products Development Agency of Ajara Tourism Department. “Accordingly, we need to get acquainted with other people’s experiences and use it in practice. This is the main goal of our conference and I think that we will have interesting speakers this year, too.”