Snowboarders, skiers and winter enthusiasts across Georgia are invited to hit the slopes in Georgia’s winter resorts Gudauri and Bakuriani.
The winter season in Georgia officially opened on December 13 – the earliest start in 15 years.
However the country’s newest winter resort and ski field opened on the first weekend of December. The new Goderdzi winter resort, located in the western mountainous Adjara region, welcomed visitors for the first time on December 5.
Officials said the early start of this year’s winter season in Georgia was a result of the recent introduction of artificial snow machines at several resorts.
Thanks to these machines Georgia’s ski resorts are not dependent on the natural climatic conditions and the resorts are able to open at a certain time every year,” said a spokesperson from Georgia’s Ministry of Economy.
Currently 29 artificial snow machines operate at Gudauri over 1,100 metres of track.
This season a new hotel opened in Gudauri that’s capable of hosting about 200 people. The Real Estate Development Company (RED-Co) invested $25 million USD in the new hotel, and it planned to invest another $15 million to build several other hotels in Gudauri.
RED-Co was also involved in building a new five-star Radisson hotel in Gudauri, which is due to open in 2016.
This was one of several projects that contributed to the area’s development, said Georgia’s Economy Minister Dimitry Kumsishvili. The Minister attended the Gudauri ski resort opening ceremony and told guests about future plans to develop the ski resort.
He said Georgia had signed an agreement with a Canadian company that planned and designed ski resorts. Kumsishvili said the company would develop a plan for Gudauri to transform it into a more modern ski resort, which would then be presented to the Government for approval. Once approved, the Government will start to implement the plan in Gudauri.