Great News! Tbilisi is among 20 beautiful European cities with hardly any tourists

Posted By : Georgian Tour/ 647
(CNN) — With overtourism showing no signs of abating in Europe’s most famous destinations, there’s never been a better time to seek out wonderful options that attract fewer visitors.
Keen to travel somewhere new without having to battle through huge crowds of selfie stick-wielding tourists in the likes of Venice, Paris and Amsterdam?
Here’s our pick of the most beautiful European cities with hardly any tourists:

Tbilisi, Georgia

The capital city of Georgia, which is actually positioned between Asia and Europe, derives its name from the hot springs that bubble beneath its surface.
Its sulfur baths are a magnet for visitors, albeit far fewer than those that head to the famous spas.
Tbilisi wears its multi-ethnic history with pride — the famous Metekhi Church, which dates back to the 13th century, sits close to the Narikala Fortress, built by the occupying Persians in the fourth century.
Meanwhile, the rambling alleyways and small shops of the Old Town are perfect for whiling away the hours.
In the list there are following cities:

Orange, France

Norwich, England

Aarhus, Denmark

Antwerp, Belgium

The Hague, Netherlands

Sarajevo, Bosnia

Pristina, Kosovo

Malmo, Sweden

Aberdeen, Scotland

Bern, Switzerland

Wroclaw, Poland

Minsk, Belarus

Yerevan, Armenia

Cluj-Napoca, Romania

Debrecen, Hungary

Ankara, Turkey

Plovdiv, Bulgaria

Trondheim, Norway

Turin, Italy

 

Source: www.edition.cnn.com

Georgian – shop for tourists

Posted By : Georgian Tour/ 581

The largest book shop in Georgia ,,Biblusi’’ has opened the first shop specially designated to the needs and interests of tourists and named it ,,Georgian’’. Shop Georgian is located on the David Aghmashenebeli 55. ,,Georgian’’ is unique of its kind and offers variety of the Georgian products to tourists.

Visitors of the shop ,,Georgian’’ can obtain high quality products made by the Georgian entrepreneurs. There is variety of products and the place is very interesting among tourists.

Georgian national clothes, unique Georgian souvenirs, Georgian honey, Georgian sweets and drinks, books are among products one can obtain in the ,,Georgian’’. Here is a special corner for the Georgian wine advisor Allwine.ge – around 500 types of the Georgian wine are represented there and degustation of wine is free. The place is not designated only for tourists. Being a guest there may be equally pleasant for both the foreign visitors and the Georgians.

Representatives of Biblusi emphasize that by making this step they want to encourage the Georgian entrepreneurship as well. Shop ,,Georgian’’ cooperates with them and contributes in popularization of the Georgian products. This is very important to spread the Georgian products on the foreign markets.

Biblusi is a book shop in Georgia that owns 60 book stores in Georgia. Biblusi owns café Piato, Art and Craft workshop.
source:www.Georgianjournal.ge, Photo: www.Georgianjournal.ge

Tour guides or foreign agents – what is happening in Georgia?

Posted By : Georgian Tour/ 630

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

Vardzia: ‘The Cave Town’

Posted By : Georgian Tour/ 905

It is called the cave town.

Vardzia is a spectacular site in southern Georgia, dug out of the Erusheti Mountain in 1185.

It had special significance for Georgians because it was associated with King Tamar – such a charismatic woman that she was crowned King instead of Queen!

“Among all the architectural jewels of Georgia, the Vardzia complex is the most precious,” said ‘Postcards’ reporter Claudio Rosmino.

“In this city, carved into the rock, there were houses, shops, libraries and even a water network. In total, 6,000 rooms, spread out over 13 levels”

In 1283, just a century after its construction, a devastating earthquake destroyed a huge part of the site. What we see today is less than a third of its original size.

“Vardzia cave complex was built for approximately 48 years by hand and was designed to host 50,000 people for defence purposes,” explained museum guide Tina Zedginidze.

“But later it became a Royal monastery with educational functions”

A small group of monks is still living there. Some 300 apartments can be visited and in some tunnels the old irrigation pipes still bring drinkable water.

 

Source: Euronews.com

Tourists speak about Georgian wine at the Georgian Wine Festival 2018

Posted By : Georgian Tour/ 826

Georgian Wine Festival 2018 has been going on for several hours already on the Shardeni Street in Tbilisi. Locals and tourists attend the event and are tasting products represented there.

What tourists say about Georgia

Tourists say that Georgian wine is distinguished with its diverse taste and is one of the best gifts they will take to their countries.
“I guess it is a wine holiday. I like Georgian wine very much and due to diverse taste of it, anyone can find their favourite wine. My favourite wine is Kindzmarauli. I have tried Kisi for the first time here and enjoyed it very much. All of my friends in Russia wait that I will take there a bottle of wine on the way back. I think wine is the best Georgian gift” – says one of the Russian tourists Irina Slavyeva.

“I turned up here accidentally and I am excited. I have tried Kindzmarauli, Saperavi and Mukuzani. My favourite one is Kindzmarauli for now. Today we fly back to Moscow and we have already defined weight of our luggage, but I will by several bottles though. In Moscow they enjoy Georgian wine very much. All of my friends asked me to take some wine for them” – says another Russian tourist Iulia Bistretskaya.
One of the guests Violeta Sharvashidze says that this kind of festival is very important in terms of tourism.

“I knew Wine Festival would be hold here so I arrived with my friends and all of us are very satisfied. I have tried different types of wine, but enjoyed Mtsvane Manavi by Batono Company very much. Generally, wines represented at the festival are very tasty. Ensembles sing perfectly well. We are staying here for the whole day and let’s see what else will be performed. Such festivals are very pleasant to the locals” – says Violeta Sharvashidze.
Actors from the Motion Theatre hold costume performance at the moment.

Georgian Wine Festival 2018 was opened by minister of Environment and Natural Resources Protection of Georgia Levan Davitashvili. Festival will finish at 7 pm today.
Partners of the event are Motion Theatre, The Folklore State Centre of Georgia and ART Shok Company.
Media supporters of the event are TV PalitraNews, Palitra Radio, ambebi.ge, events.ambebi.ge, ipn.ge, kvirispalitra, georgianjournal.ge, allnews.ge, reitingi.ge.
Source: Georgianjournal.ge

Passenger traffic at Georgian airports increases 25%

Posted By : Georgian Tour/ 806

Georgian airports have served 3,375,959 passengers during the last eight months, which is a 25 per cent increase in comparison to last year, an official statement of United Airports of Georgia says.

Tbilisi International Airport served 461,051 passengers in August: a 12 per cent increase y/y.

Growth in the first eight months of this year was 24 per cent higher than the same period last year.

Passenger traffic in Kutaisi International Airport increased by 44 per cent in August 2018 y/y.

Over the last eight months Kutaisi International Airport has served 382,325 passengers, which is a 35 per cent increase.

Batumi International Airport served 121, 298 in August 2018 which is 12 percent more than the same period for last year. As for the first eight months of this year, passenger traffic in Batumi International Airport increased by 24 per cent.

Georgia’s rural airports in Mestia and Ambrolauri together served 5 ,520 passengers in the first eight months of 2018.