Nino Burchuladze and Nino Tsipuria, the journalists of Kviris Palitra, headed for the touristic centers of Tbilisi (the capital of Georgia) in order to find out more about the positive and negative sides of tourism in Georgia. They met tourists, local workers, vendors and listen to their views about the touristic situation in Tbilisi.

The first respondents were a group of Chinese tourists. They told the journalists that they liked Tbilisi and Batumi, a seaside city in south-western Georgia the most. According to them, Georgia is a well-known country in China. The only things they don’t like in Georgia are salty dishes and the lack of speedy trains. They hope Georgia and China will more deepen their relationship in the future.

Going up the Narikala fortress in Tbilisi, the journalists decided to have a conversation with local workers. They said that there are guides who fabricate stories about Georgia or provide wrong information to the tourists. They believe guides should be well-educated local people who have a good knowledge of Georgian history. There are various foreign touristic companies that don’t bring any financial profit to locals. They hope the government will impose certain regulations in this regard.

The next destination was the outdoor markets. The local vendors are impressed with the high number of tourists in Georgia. They hope it will increase in the summer. However, they are also concerned about the lack of Georgians’ involvement in local tourism. According to them, there are Arabian and Iranian guides who lie about Georgia saying that it is part of Iran or Saudi Arabia. As for tourists, they observed that Russian tourists have a very negative attitude and tend to look down on the vendors. The most positive and warm tourists are Ukrainians, Europeans, Arabians, and Americans.

Source: Georgianjournal.ge