Tbilisi chapter added to Travel Massive
Tourism platform examines Georgian particularities

Local and foreigner tourism specialists and travel enthusiasts have gathered in Georgia’s capital Tbilisi this week to discuss a number of aspects of Georgia’s burgeoning tourism industry.

The event ‘Thematic Tours Against Triviality’ was organised by Travel Massive, a global community of travel industry insiders.

One of the topics brought up at the meeting examined ways of avoiding the negative effects associated with mass tourism, such as the erosion and alignment of local culture with the sometimes more lucrative tastes of tourists.

Event organisers and participants spoke about the importance of maintaining local ‘vibes’ and retaining cultural authenticity beyond sightseeing spots.

Photo from yesterday's meeting. Photo by Adrian Scoffham Photography.

The organiser of the event, travel writer Daria Kholodilina, said it was her private initiative to "add a Tbilisi chapter to the Travel Massive platform”. Her aim is to provide a networking platform to those who are involved in the travel industry in Georgia and a place where the various aspects of the domestic travel industry can be discussed.

One of the conditions of adding a city to Travel Massive is the conducting of an event once every 1.5 months – the first took place on February 21. The purpose of the event was to bring together tourism specialists and travel enthusiasts in Tbilisi, introduce them to the concept of Travel Massive, create another opportunity to network and share knowledge about traveling”, said Kholodilina.

It is quite remarkable that all the speakers were expats, but I am sure it will showcase the way Georgia can profit from the "new blood”, she added.

Speakers of the event included US journalist Paul Rimple who is the founder of "Culinary Backstreets Tbilisi”; photographers Maurice Wolf and Helene Veilleux who are the founders of "Brutal Tours” and Tatiana Remneva – writer, founder of "MiracleTbilisi”.

Travel Massive is one of world’s largest open communities of travel industry experts – it aims to provide professional networking and education spaces in the tourism industry in order to bring about a powerful change to the way we travel.