Georgia prepares for annual Tourism Awards

Hundreds of people in Georgia’s tourism and hospitality industries are in capital Tbilisi to learn about an upcoming awards ceremony that recognises the best in the business.

More than 400 tour operators, travel agencies, restaurant owners, hotel managers and many others were involved in today’s special forum Welcome To Georgia! National Tourism Awards.

The event was opened by Georgia’s Economy Minister Dimitry Kumsishvili, who introduced participants about an annual awards ceremony that honours the country’s best tourism operators and hospitality businesses who contributed to creating a positive image of Georgia worldwide.

This year the awards, also named Welcome To Georgia! National Tourism Awards, will be held in November 2016 for the second time. They’re recognised as the ‘Oscars for Georgia’s tourism and travel industries’ and are highly desired.

There are 21 awards up for grabs in the 2016 Welcome To Georgia! National Tourism Awards and the winners will be chosen by a jury and online votes.

From June 16, companies are invited to register for the awards.

The Forum was opened by Georgia’s Economy Minister Dimitry Kumsishvili. Photo by Georgia's Ministry of Economy. 

Georgia’s Economy Minister said developing the country’s tourism sector and generating more income from this industry was one of the Government’s main goals.

While more could be done, Kumsishvili said the awareness of Georgia and its tourism potential was increasing. This was evident in figures, which showed Georgia had the highest growth in international visitor numbers in 2013 among the European countries.

Last year 5,901,094 international visitors came to Georgia, which was seven percent more year-on-year (y/y). These visitors spent $1.94 billion USD while here, said Kumsishvili, and this was an 8.3 percent increase y/y.

To attract more tourists, the Georgian Government introduced several different marketing campaigns. This included inviting about 400 journalists to learn about the country, simplifying visa rules, negotiating with airlines to launch new flight routes and more.

The annual Welcome To Georgia! National Tourism Awards launched last year and were organised by Ukrainian company LLC Elements Group. The first annual awards ceremony was held at the Funicular Restaurant in capital Tbilisi on November 20, 2015.