Passenger traffic at Georgian airports increases 25%
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.
Georgia 4th among world’s fastest-growing tourism destinations
Georgia has taken the fourth position as the world’s most fast-growing tourism destinations in the World Tourism Organisation’s (UNWTO) 2017 report.
The report reads that in 2017 the number of tourists particularly increased for trips to Egypt, Togo, Vietnam and Georgia.
For Egypt, the number of tourists increased by 55 per cent.
In Togo, by 46 per cent.
In Vietnam by 29 per cent.
In Georgia by 27.9 per cent.
Georgia stands above France, Spain, Turkey and other countries where the tourism field is especially well-developed in terms of pace of growth.
This is the first time that Georgia has taken a leading position as a quickly growing tourist country in the UNWTO report. In 2016 Georgia was the first in Europe as a tourism destination, now we are in the top five as the world’s fast growing tourism destinations, which is a great achievement,” head of the Georgian National Tourism Administration Giorgi Chogovadze said.
The report reads that international tourist arrivals grew by seven per cent in 2017, the highest increase since 2010.
The UNWTO is the United Nations agency responsible for the promotion of responsible, sustainable and universally accessible tourism.
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.”
Georgian guda cheese wins first place at cheese festival in Italy
Traditional cheese made in Georgia’s historical region of Tusheti has become the winner of the International Cheese Festival in Italy.
A Tushuri ‘guda’ cheese, made by young Georgian farmer Kakha Abuladze, 22, came in first place at the Festival.
Tushuri guda is a cheese produced from sheep’s milk that ripens in a “guda” (the Georgian word for a bag made from the skin of a sheep, goat, or calf)..
Since 2011, Slow Food has awarded shepherds and craftsmen who reject shortcuts and continue to produce cheese and other food products while preserving naturalness, traditions, and flavors.
Shepherds and chefs who produce cheese and other organic products according to traditions were awarded as well.
The other winners of the four-day festival were farmers from the United States, Italy, and the Cape Verde Republic.
The international cheese festival in Italy is held once every two years and gathers hundreds of farmers from all over the world.
Cheese Festival
Every year Georgia invites gourmets from all over the world to the Cheese Festival. In 2015 it became international, as Armenia and Azerbaijan filled the list of participants, which means you can enjoy even more varieties of this loved-by-all food. Moreover, it was decided to hold the next festival in the region that wins the competition. Previously, a celebration of the senses had been hosted by the Rike Park in Tbilisi.
The name makes the purpose of the event obvious – to introduce visitors to the regional types of cheeses. Hard flavorful dambal-khacho prepared according to technology which is recognized and protected by UNESCO, spicy Guda cheese matured in a bag made of sheepskin, Tenili Kveli from Southern Georgia, tightly woven into a braid, cheese in honey, oils, flowers, spices, and even wine! Please, come hungry to Georgia festivals to feel the rich taste of all this awesomeness!
Peasants from different regions enjoy showing the ancient tools used for preparing cheeses and tell visitors about specific details of preparation of different sorts of cheeses.
If you appreciate the culture of cheese making and huge variety of cheeses to taste, welcome to Georgia!
New Year’s traditions in Georgia
In Georgia, Europe and Asia have merged into a culture that is strangely not European nor Asian, but distinctly its own: Georgian. The mix of influences from the two continents has resulted in unique local traditions, cuisine, customs, and more that are unlike what you’ll find anywhere else — including how the locals ring in the new year.
If you want to have an authentic local experience in Tbilisi in December, touristy Rustaveli Avenue and Liberty Square are not the right places for that. Instead, visit Aghmashenebeli Avenue and the bazaar. Georgian bazaars are joyful and full of colours, and in the days leading up to December 31st, the bazaars are the most-visited places in the city as locals stock up on the goods they’ll need for New Year’s celebrations. While there are plenty of dishes, the highlight for locals is gozinaki, a sweet, homemade candy made from honey and walnuts — a New Year’s without this treat is simply unimaginable in Georgia. (Plus, it’ll keep the dentists in business for the new year!)
Another tradition is the tree: in Georgia, it isn’t just a Christmas tree that gets put up at the holiday, but a New Year tree, called a chichilaki. Traditional New Year trees are made from
shaved walnut or hazelnut tree branches, and then decorated with chocolates and fruit. These fluffy, lovely, handmade trees are believed to bring happiness and peace to your home. The sizes vary from several centimetres to a few metres, but don’t worry, the size of your tree doesn’t affect the amount of happiness or peace you’ll experience.
Generally, a chichilaki will stand in the living room, right next to the dinner table, so it can join you for a glass of heavenly Georgian wine at dinner. Kidding, trees don’t drink — but you do, right? If so, Tbilisi is the right place for you. Here, good wine is always a good idea, and we like to think that maybe wine is the answer to why Georgians are so artistic; the streets of Tbilisi are filed with local artists selling crafts. Head to Agmashenebeli Avenue, where you’re likely to find some amazing handcrafted wooden souvenirs. (You might also find farmers selling huge pumpkins from their fields, right there in the city centre.)
Between your New Year’s Eve supply shopping at the bazaar and your souvenir shopping on the streets, be sure to grab a local lunch to fuel you up. The streets of Tbilisi are full of nice cafés that offer khachapuri (cheese-filled bread), spinach pie, and other pastries, as well as plenty of street food.
Late in the day on December 31, when you’ve had enough good wine, nice art, and delicious food for the daylight hours, head back to your hotel to change and rush out to a New Year’s Eve party — where I’m sure you’ll find all those things (wine, art, and food!) in abundance!
Here is incredible tour in Georgia on New Year time: