Ancient city Mtskheta enjoys new facilities for accessible tourism
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Georgia’s ancient capital Mtskheta, a high-profile tourist area in the country, is the first of several Georgian cities to enjoy new areas specially designed to be accessible for tourists of all abilities.
The Georgian National Tourism Administration (GNTA) of Georgia’s Ministry of Economy has just completed the Mtskheta Adaptation project to make many of the historic city's popular areas more accessible for people with a range of disabilities.
Within the project all historical monuments including the Samtavro Monastery, Shiomghvime Monastery, Antioch Church and Svetistkhoveli Cathedral have been adapted to be more inclusive and meet the needs of all members of society.
Creating an environment that's adapted for people with special needs at tourist attractions is very important. For this reason we made Mtskheta more accessible for these people and developed accessible tourism there,” said head of the GNTA Giorgi Chogovadze.
Special tourist information boards written in Braille allow people with vision impairments to learn about historic monuments in Mtskheta. Photo by the GNTA.
In particular, small-scale temple models were installed at the entrance of all churches in Mtskheta for people who are blind or have vision impairments, and they could also find special tourist information boards written in Braille where they can learn more about each monument.
Ramps were also installed at all historic monuments in Mtskheta to make the areas accessible for people in wheelchairs.
Ramps were installed at all tourist attractions in Mtskheta. Photo by the GNTA.
Developing accessible tourism in the country will continue and Georgia’s famous western resort Tskaltubo will be the next place to be renovated.
From this summer we will start adapting Tskaltubo for people with disabilities. At the same time we are working to create accessible tourism packages for several towns in Georgia’s Kakheti region,” said Chogovadze.
Meanwhile 315 municipal buildings and infrastructural facilities in Georgia’s capital Tbilisi will also undergo renovation works to cater for people with disabilities.
This was included in the Three Year Action Plan, which was created last year to develop accessible tourism in Georgia.
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