10.36172/EKONOMISTI.2021.XVII.02.Baliashvili

Expanded Summary

In the article - "Once again on the mountain tourism potential of Georgia" - as its title shows, it is discussed the potential for tourism development in Georgia in the context of its mountainous part - Svaneti, Khevsureti, Tusheti, Pshavi and other mountainous regions.

A mountainous region is a geographical, economic and social entity whose terrain, climate, natural and cultural heritage, as well as socio-economic policies require the development and development of emergency rules of protection, and subsequently - the enactment.

The mountainous regions of Georgia included 13 historical-ethnographic regions, which according to the current administrative-territorial division are mainly 3 regions (+ Zemo Svaneti and Tusheti), including 16 districts and 272 local (community-rural) administrative units. It should be noted, however, that such a division is conditional.

Currently, according to the Law on Socio-Economic and Cultural Development of Mountainous Regions adopted by the Parliament of Georgia, the number of such villages at the time of its adoption was 497, at present at the expense of additions 15 villages of the regions were added) their number is 1540.

Georgia's mountain resources can be successfully used for such tourism as mountain, recreational, sports and adventure tourism, such as mountaineering, mountaineering, hiking, skiing and crystal, mountain biking, rafting and more. , On which the demand in the world is growing.

According to the relevant information, the author of the article proves that these mountainous parts of Georgia have a great tourist wealth and if anything hinders the intensive and large-scale development of tourism there, it is their lack of amenities.

Another serious problem is that the villages in the mountainous parts of Georgia are almost empty of young people, while the elderly have no entrepreneurial knowledge. Young people from the mountains either come to work in the bar (in the cities) slowly, or emigrate abroad.

 The passive attitude of the government towards the mountain, according to the author, is a Soviet legacy, and the lack of funds spent on mountain improvement - "investment short-sightedness".

It is true that the development of tourism in the highlands of Georgia has begun, but it is carried out somewhat unsystematically, especially in the case of private tourism services - food establishments, family hotels and others. They do not know the demand for their product because they have no market research education, and even if they do, they do not have access to relevant information. The Georgian Tourism Administration performs this function to some extent, but it does not study it separately for the mountainous regions.

However, farmers operating in highland settlements and the private and public sectors themselves point out the lack of qualified human resources and non-compliance with the requirements of the existing market. Vocational schools operate only in Mestia, Ambrolauri, Kazbegi (Stepantsminda and Gudauri) and Tianeti municipalities.

At present, most of the mountainous settlements of Georgia are not covered by fiber-optic cable and also not all settlements have access to the services of mobile operators, which limits the access of the local population to the Internet and, consequently, is a barrier to development and access to services.

According to the population of highland settlements, access to transport is not easy either, although it increased from 31% to 61% between 2015-2018, but access to public transport remains one of the challenges. Only a small part of the highland settlements is supplied with gas supply, 1460 out of 1730 highland settlements (with 85045 potential customers) do not have natural gas supply.

It is necessary to study this issue in this context because the mountainous places of Georgia are different and they offer different types of tourist services to tourists. None of them will surprise tourists (especially foreign tourists) with their buses or buses, but with sightseeing tours, hiking and boating routes, sightseeing tours, skiing and fishing, hiking and hiking. Yes.

1387.7 million GEL was spent from the state budget in 2019 on the improvement of Georgia's market infrastructure, road maintenance, construction of new highways, domestic and local roads, which is a grand figure. If the improvement of the mountains was a priority with this amount, then in these two years the "great return" of the population from the bar to the mountains would begin. Since this process has not started, it means that none of the Georgian authorities understood the purpose and significance of the mountain.

With his opinions and excerpts from the works of other scientists, the author proves that the Georgian highlands have no alternative to the development of other fields besides tourism. Therefore, we should declare the mountains of Georgia only as a free economic zone for tourism and provide all the necessary benefits.

In addition, it is necessary to create and operate a special legislative-normative framework for mining tourism in the context of a free zone, in which the calculation will be to provide tax benefits and provide pro-government support for cheap loans. With such support, mountain tourism will achieve noticeable success and, most importantly, mountain villages will no longer be depopulated. They will be actively involved in attracting tourists and will have an income.

Developing a law on a mountainous region and adding 30 or 50 GEL to the salary of those working in the mountains will not change the demographic situation in the mountains, nor will a single 1000-1600 GEL deduction for the purchase of children help. "Radical breakthrough" is needed in the mountains ..

Today, tourism is a priority sector of the Georgian economy, and its development resources lie in the mountains of Georgia. At such times, when it comes to Georgia's budget, we clearly have Soviet "heredity" and "investment short-sightedness."

The author considers Uruguay to be the best example of the development of the Georgian highlands and tourism there.