Hotels in Tbilisi

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.

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

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.

GTA Strategy Workshop 12th/13th December 2008 20 particpants of GTA member companies and invited guests from GTA partner organisation Adjara Tourism Association (ATA) – discussed issues and problems of tourism sector in Georgia and GTA strategy and action plan for 2009. Issues: Incoming and domestic tourism – Infrastructure – Legislation and Tax law – Rehabilitation of positive country image – Cooperation with hotels – Capacitybuilding for hotel and tourism company staff – Private Public Partnerships – Sustainable Tourism Outgoing and Ticketing – Cooperation with Airlines – Cooperation with foreign tourism companies -Tax law -Visa Issues -Tour Operator Trainings Cooperation with government institutions – Cooperation with Ministry of Economic Development / Department of Tourism & Resorts – Cooperation with Ministry of Environment and Agency of Protected Areas Association development – Quality Management and certification/ licensing – Projects and Fundraising for Tourism Development in Georgia – Marketing and Image of Association, participation at fairs – Cooperation with (regional) Tourism Associations and other partners – Membership in international associations – South Caucasus partnership, regional cooperation For more information contact GTA board info@tourism-association.ge The workshop was supported by GTZ Private Sector Development Project.

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.

SOUTH CAUCASUS COOPERATION at CTF 2009, 3rd – 5th April. In cooperation with Azerbajan and Armenian counterparts Georgian Tourism Association (GTA) is organising several activities at Caucasus Tourism Fair (CTF 2009) : Exposition “Diamonds of Azerbaijan, Georgia, Armenia” , 3rd-5th of April International Symposium: “Country – and Regional Branding” to promote regional cooperation of tourism stakeholders and to facilitate Buisiness to Business contacts (4th of April) Regional BtoB -Workshop for Tourism Companies (5th of April) The activities at CTF are supported by GTZ Economic Development Project and carried out in partnership with Department of Tourism and Resorts (DoTR) , Expo Georgia, Tbilisi City Hall.

GTA celebrated 3 years of existence on 10th of January. The anniversary party was held in club 24 in Tbilisi together with friends, members, cooperation partners and people who contributed to the development of GTA.

Georgian Tourism Association (GTA) receives first ” ECO-AWARDS Program” in Georgia for a project promoting Sustainable Tourism Activities in Georgian National Parks. The program is supported by BP on behalf of its OIL and Gas Co-venturers and Eurasia Partnership Foundation

Meeting of the BSEC Working group on cooperation in Tourism. Istanbul, BSEC, 9-10 March, 2009 The meeting of the BSEC working Group on cooperation in Tourism was held in Istanbul, at the BSEC Headquarters, on 9-10 March 2009. Participants from Georgia were Department of Tourism and Resorts (Beka Jakeli – Deputy of Head of Department) and Georgian Tourism Association (Nata Kvachantiradze- Director of Board)

4th of April 2009, 10-17h ExpoGeorgia Fairground 118 Tsereteli Ave. Tbilisi 0119 Georgia more information: info@tourism-association.ge giorgi_ag@dsl.ge or: expo@expogeorgia.ge