Networking Visit to Baku, Azerbaijan

A GTA Delegation has visited Baku, Azerbaijan on 16th-18th of December to meet with local tourism institutions to discuss a regional strenghthening of cooperation between the private sector tourism institutions of Georgia and Azerbaijan.

A follow up process to develop regional tourism routes and regular information exchange has been agreed upon with the Department of Tourism, the Tourism Association of Azerbaijan, the Tourism Information Centre in Baku and the Azerbaijan Tourism Institute.

BSEC Tourism Associations Forum, Athens

FORUM ON THE COOPERATION OF THE ASSOCIATIONS OF TRAVEL AGENCIES OF THE BSEC MEMBER STATES

Athens, Greece 22-25 November, 2008

BSEC Forum on the Cooperation of Associations of Travel Agencies of the member states of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation was held in Athens on the 24th of November.

Participants from Georgia were Department of Tourism and Resorts (DoTR) (Beka Jakeli - head of department) and Georgian Tourism Association (GTA) (Nata Kvachantiradze- Director).

The objective of the forum was to establish a network of Associations of Travel Agencies of the BSEC member States:

- Exchange views, experience and best practices
- Promote multi-destination packages to promote tourism flows among the BSEC countries as well as attracting tourists from third countries.
- Exchange information concerning the tourist infrastructure of the Member States, the tourist events and fairs organized in their territory, etc.

The Forum created hopes for a future cooperation of Associations of Travel Agencies within the BSEC member states and constitutes the first step for an establishment of a Union of Travel Associations of BSEC member states.

Outcomes of CTS'2008 International Tourism Fair in Yerevan, Armenia

CTS’2008 the 8th International Annual Tourism Fair in Yerevan
November 7-9

A delegation from Georgian Tourism Association (GTA) has participated in the International Annual Tourism Fair in Yerevan.

The fair was organised by Armenian Ministry of Economy, Armenian Association of Travel Agents (AATA) and Armenian Chapter of American Society of Travel Agents (ASTA) with the support of USAID “Competitive Armenian Private Sector” project.

As a result of the fair Georgian Tourism Association (GTA) together with Armenian Association of Travel Agents (AATA) and Armenian Hotel Association (AHA) are planning to hold a workshop about tourism development problems and perspectives in South Caucasus.
The tourism stakeholders from Azerbaijan will be involved also.

The objective is to strengthen the regional coooperation on a private sector and association level.

The workshop is planned to take place in Tbilisi in spring 2009.

Conference for Business Integration and Private Public Partnership in Tourism

Conference for Business Integration & Private Public Partnership in Tourism was held in Batumi, Adjara on November 27./28. 2008

The 2 days conference plus workshop was organised by Adjaran Tourism Association to initiate a closer cooperation of stakeholders for Tourism Development in Adjara.

Priority of the workshop was to facilitate closer cooperation of 3 Tourism Associations in Georgia: Adjara Tourism Association (ATA), Tourism Association of Guria (TAG) and Georgian Tourism Association (GTA) in areas of networking, communication & cooperation with regional and national Tourism Departments.

Georgian Tourism Association invites local tourism associations in Georgia to join this process and contribute their visions for tourism development in Georgia. More information at

http://www.tourism-association.ge/
info@tourism-association.ge

Vashlovani National Park

Vashlovani National Park. Exposure visit 22nd/23rd of November 2008

Vashlovani National Park is situated in the south eastern part of Georgia close to the border of Azerbaijan.
It is a semi-desert area with unique landscapes and a rich flora and fauna. For birdwatching, mountainbiking, walking and fishing in the Alazani River, the area is a jewel.

Recommended seasons are Spring (for birdwatching) and Autumn (perfect temperatures & colours).
Even during Winter the day temperatures can reach 20 Degrees Celsius and snowfall is very rare.

The newly constructed bungalows are comfortable and will be equipped with stoves for heating. In winter sleeping bags are recommended.

Self-Catering.

The roads to the various campsites / ranger stations are indicated, but a guide from Dedoplitskaro National Park Office is recommended, were you need to stop for the permit (free of charge). Can be combined with a visit to Eagles Canyon in Dedoplitskaro.

Distance: 3-3,5 hours from Tbilisi (approx. 200 km) if you go to Mijnis Kure Site, slightly less if to other Guesthouses/Campsites.

4x4 is necessary and in case of rain a visit is not advisable.

Prices:
Bungalow GEL 30,-/day
Guide: GEL 40,-/day

more information:
www.dpa.gov.ge
www.vashlovanipa.ge

Putting Abastumani back on Georgia's Tourism Map

Official presentation of USAID SME support project's activities in Abastumani, 7th of November 2008.

Hotel Kapa www.hotelkapa.ge
The hotel offers 10 comfortable guest-rooms in the price range of 60-80 GEL including 3 meals a day. SAT TV in rooms.

Cafe Ojakhuri
A indoor & outdoor cafe with good food and excellent service at reasonable price located at Abastumani main road in the centre of the resort.

Cafe Roscha
Rustically decorated open air cafe in the forest near the cable car station. "A place of gathering for locals and visitors alike."

Abastumani Astrophysical Observatory
The renovation of the Observatory 40cm refractor building and museum, souvenir store and offices is the first step to make the observatory an attractive tourism spot in Abastumani, reached by road and cable car. More information: http://www.observatory.iliauni.edu.ge/

Abastumani Tourism Association
The Association is a non-profit association. Members are local businesses with tourism linkages. For more information about the services of the association contact: http://www.ata.ge/

More information about USAID SME project: http://www.iesc.ge/

GTA at CTS'2008 International Tourism Fair in Yerevan, Armenia

Georgian Tourism Association (GTA) will be present at:

“Country of Talking Stones” – CTS’2008 8th annual International Tourism Fair will be held on November 7-8, 2008 in Yerevan, Armenia.

For more information please contact ASTA ARMENIA Chapter 3-11 Spendiaryan Str. 0002 Yerevan, Armenia Tel: +37410 533231 Fax: +37410 532291 E-mail: info@cts.am URL: http://www.cts.am/

Rafting in Georgia. End of Season 2008: Rioni River, Tvishi Gorge

End of Rafting Season 2008

Rioni River, Tvishi Gorge

(40 km from Kutaisi)

2nd of November 2008

organised by Jomardi Club
http://www.adventure.ge/

More information:
info(at)tourism-association.ge

See video clip (2007) on

www.youtube.com/georgiantourism : Georgia Caucasus: Rioni Rafting.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=sT_q9O2OUvI

Georgian Tourism Association (GTA)

http://www.tourism-association.ge/

ELKANA Jeeptour in Samtskhe Javakheti

On 11th and 12th of October, Biological Farming Association Elkana
invited to Samtskhe-Javakheti region to introduce new tour program.

Tour Itinerary

Day 1 – Tbilisi – Aspindza

8:00 Departure from Tbilisi to Atskuri village
11:00 Visit Tiseli Church
12:00 Excursion to Bieti
13:00 Lunch at Elkana member family in village Klde
14:00 Departure to Uraveli Gorge through Akhaltsikhe
15:00 Visit Groma Church, Enteli and Agara Monastery Complexes
18:00 Driving in the direction of Aspindza via village Dzveli
19:00 Dinner at Nemsadze guesthouse. Presentation of Samtskhe-Javakheti Map*.

Day 2 - Aspindza – Ninotsminda – Tsalka - Tbilisi
8:00 Breakfast at the guesthouse
8:00 Departure to village Saro, Vardistsikhe and Toki
13:30 Picnic
15:00 Driving to Tsalka passing by Sagamo and Paravani lakes.
22:00 Arrival in Tbilisi

Watch tour video by Georgian Tourism Association (GTA)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ym7tXhgRYh4

New GTA member Kazbegi Mountain House

Kazbegi Mountain House has joined Georgian Tourism Association (GTA) as an associated member, status reserved for partner NGOs and regional tourism associations.

KMH offers:

- Backpackers Lodge

- Tourism Info Centre

- Mountain Equipment Rental

- Infrastructure Projects to improve Tourism Development in Kazbegi Region

http://www.mountainhouse.ge/


Mountain House Kazbegi

Mountain House Hostel and Tourism Information Center is located right in
the center of city Stepantsminda (former Kazbegi) which is base for climbing
on to the Mt.Kazbek (5047 m).

Mountain House offers:

- Nice accomodation in our small house with the view of the magnificent
Caucasus mountain range

- Our tourism information center offers maps, books and souveniers from
the area of Kazbegi

- Mountain House offers guides for Mt. Kazbek, rock climbing, ice climbing
and treks in the Sno Valley

- We rent also all equipment for rock climbing, ice climbing, trekking or
mountain bikes


Mountain House is created as non-governmental organisation powered by
Polish Aid and Czech non-governmental organisation People In Need. His mission
is improvement of local tourism infrastructure in the region of Kazbegi.

Web:
http://www.mountainhouse.ge/ - web about Mountain House
www.kazbegi.info - Touristic information web about region updated by
Mountain House

Contacts:
Vako Dundua - director
mailto:vako.dundua@yahoo.com
(+995 99) 160 012

Roman Stanek - project manager
roman.stanek@peopleinneed.cz
(+995 55) 932 133

World Tourism Day: DoTR awards GTA members

On the occasion of World Tourism Day (27th September)
Department of Tourism & Resorts (DoTR) granted Certificates for "Outstanding contributions for the development of Tourism" in Georgia.

Following GTA members were rewarded:

Managers:
1. Ketevan Meladze ,,Newkaz”
2. Marina Sukhitashvili ,,Intertour”
3. Ketevan Kiasashvili ,, Magic Tour”

Guides:
1. Mamuka Burduli ,,Jomardi Club”
2. Elza Khisanisvili ,, Georgian Holidays”
3. Elisabeth Machitidze ,,Megzuri”
4. Misha Mindiashvili "Georgian Adventures & Tours"

Furthermore GTA s cooperation partners

1. Knut Gerber (GTZ)
2. Irine Salukvadze (USAID/iesc)

received the Certificate.

Congratulations to all!

Congratulations Jomardi Club WHL market place operator

CONGRATULATIONS
Jomardi Adventure Club for Selection as World Hotel Link (WHL) Market Place Operator.

GTA member company Jomardi Club, the Georgian Outdoor and Adventure Experts, was selected as Market Place Operator for World hotel link, a worldwide network of booking platforms for guesthouses and sustainable tourism activities. http://www.whl.travel/

WHL Georgia booking platform http://www.travel-tbilisi.com/

International Online Hotel Booking Systems Project

International Online Hotel Booking Systems
A project in cooperation with USAID’s SME Support Project

by Georgian Tourism Association (GTA) 3rd July 2008

Why register with International Online Hotel Booking Systems?

The future of hotel reservation in individual and business travel is online booking. The experience and the position of international online booking systems on the world market for hotel reservations are attractive for Georgian Hotels & Guesthouses for registration with several of the market leading systems. The increased visibility in the search engines make international systems advantageous compared to smaller national booking systems.

Which international systems?

hrs.com (Hotel Reservation System): the biggest in Europe, 360.000.000 page impressions on website per year, 12.000 operating companies, booking facility on more than 6000 internet pages, 31 languages and 225.000 Hotels registered worldwide. Clear procedures, good to start with: commission 10%, full payment made in the hotel, hotel administration system on the hrs-website after registration. Very cooperative. Interesting for small hotels due to flexible procedures. www.hrs.com

hotels.com: a very active booking system in terms of publicity “my hotel”, “wake up happy”. 80.000 hotels worldwide, 25 languages. Pre-registration easy (a little tricky), communication & cooperation are less easy. www.hotels.com

booking.com: 18 languages, 45000 hotels in 67 countries, 240.000.000 site visitors per year, 10,9 million room nights booked in 2006. Pre-Registration form is quite detailed (9 pages) making registration not so easy, final contract takes a lot of time (recommended as second or third booking system). www.booking.com

tobook.com: similar procedures as hrs.com; 10 % commission on finalized reservations, full payment at the hotel (secured by credit card number). Registration process is easy, with registration form, monthly invoice for commissions from tobook. More problems on website than others. www.tobook.com

whl.travel: international booking systems network committed to Sustainable Tourism and promoting a “Caring for the destination” approach. Active in more than 30 countries. Target group are individual travelers. Enables small guesthouses and hotels without own internet access to be booked online through a Market Place Operator (MPO). Especially interesting for hotels in regions of Georgia. www.whl.travel and www.travel-tbilisi.com

What is the service of Georgian Tourism Association (GTA)?

Georgian Tourism Association (GTA) offers hands on support with registration procedures, cooperation of hotels/guesthouses and tour companies and membership in GTA for hotels & guesthouses.
www.tourism-association.ge

Press release: Hotel Booking Systems Project

Press release: 1st of July 2008

Putting Georgian Hotels on the world map of tourism
Georgian Tourism Association (GTA) facilitates registration of Georgian Hotels with international hotel booking systems.

Presentation: Thursday, 3rd July, 16 hours, Courtyard Marriott Ballroom.

With support of USAID SME project Georgian Tourism Association (GTA) has accomplished an innovative pilot project to support the access of Georgian Hotels & Guesthouses to the growing individual tourism market; the rising clientele of people who plan their vacation using the internet instead of buying package tours.

Before the project the renowned international booking systems, like hrs.com, hotels.com, expedia.com, bookings.com, tobook.com and whl.travel who are dominating the internet search engines had no or very little representatives in Georgia, apart from big hotel chains and a few pioneering hotels. This was one of the factors that made the country a difficult place to go on your own. Today the situation starts to be different.
In addition, through the cooperation with World Hotel Link (WHL), an international hotel booking network (whl.travel), the tourism association has created opportunities for guesthouses in remote, rural areas without internet access to be booked online. From now onwards Georgia is part of a worldwide network promoting the development of Sustainable Tourism.

The pilot project has supported interested hotels with hands on registration at selected booking systems and focused not only on luxury hotels but also small & medium sized hotels and guesthouses.

“Usually the problem is rather a language barrier and a difficulty to understand the very detailed procedures of different systems and not the lack of managerial skills”, recalls Beka Natsvlishvili, executive manager of Georgian Tourism Association (GTA), who helped the hotels during the process. After a short period of training on the job and the first experiences the hotel managers are normally able to handle several booking systems without further support.This is -together with an attractive offer- the key factor for success. Natsvlishvili: “Some hotels with very attractive offers had bookings in the first week after registration. Others have to register with four or more booking systems to have a constant flow of bookings. But in the long run every experienced hotel has been satisfied with the step on the international level.”

Thursday’s presentation is a starting point for future activities of Georgian Tourism Association: After completion of the pilot project, GTA invites hotels & guesthouses to become members of the association and offers support with booking systems. Furthermore GTA promotes the cooperation of hotels and tourism companies.
There is much scope for positive developments in Georgia to the benefit of stakeholders in Tbilisi as well as in the regions.

Presentation: Thursday 3rd of July, 16 hours, Courtyard Marriott Ballroom

Contact:
Georgian Tourism Association (GTA)
Beka Natsvlishvili (executive manager) mob. 899388235 or
Steffen Schuelein (advisor) mob. 895158869
Melikishvili Str. 18/II
0179 Tbilisi
www.tourism-association.ge
info@tourism-association.ge

Invitation: GTA Project Presentation on July 3rd

GTA's Hotel-Booking-Systems registration support project is proud to present results & future activities. Information and support to register with International Hotel Booking Systems & membership in Georgian Tourism Association (GTA).
Hotels /Guesthouses and other tourism stakeholders are invited.
The project is supported by USAID SME project.
Venue: Courtyard Marriott Ballroom, July 3rd, 16 hours

Workshop: Regional Best Practices in Tourism in Yerevan (Armenia)

Coming up: Regional Best Practices in Tourism Workshop in Yerevan (Armenia) on 24th-25th of June. More detailed information about the conference can be found on the web site: http://registration.bcserdon.com/index.php?etype=1

Intro: GTA postcard drafts for comment

Please find below 15 possible GTA postcards. Please comment if you like them or not, with slogan or without...
You can either rate the cards (5: very good to 1: unacceptable) and add a comment for each of the cards or choose 5 cards (out of 15) that you do not like. We can print a maximum of 10 cards.

The backside of each card will show GTA Logo & website, the location of the photo and the name of the photographer.

If you have a photo taken in Georgia -Tbilisi that you think is particularily suitable for a GTA postcard, please send it as a high resolution JPG file (at least 1 MB) to info@tourism-association.ge not forgetting to mention location and name of photographer.

Your GTA Team

GTA postcard drafts for comment

No 1: Tbilisi