Georgia becomes member of Int’l Federation of Mountain Guides Associations
The IFMG integrates almost 6,000 mountain guides in more than 20 countries worldwide. Photo: Mountain Resorts of Georgia.
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The Georgian Mountain Guide Association (GMGA) which has been developing adventure guiding institutions and training programmes in the country since 1998 is now officially a member of the International Federation of Mountain Guides Associations (IFMGA).
Entering the association on November 24, the GMGA is a national association of trained and certified trekking, rock, alpine, ski and mountain guides of Georgia.
The association works to ‘strengthen institutional and educational platforms of adventure tourism professions in Georgia for the safety of tourists and their guides.’
Georgia became a candidate member of the IFMGA in 2018.
The GMGA reports that starting today those who will be trained by Adventure Tourism School (ATS) in Georgia ‘will automatically become international IFMGA-certified mountain guides.’
The ATS was established in Georgia on August 8, 2016 by the GMGA and the education ministry.
The IFMG integrates almost 6,000 mountain guides in more than 20 countries worldwide.
It was founded in 1965 by guides from Austria, France, Switzerland and Italy.
A group of 20 Georgian mountain guides have obtained international licences recognised in 25 countries worldwide after undergoing a trail guide retraining course co-financed by the European Union.
Giorgi Kochkiani, a 17-year-old mountain guide from the village of Ushguli in northern Georgia’s mountainous Svaneti region, represented the country at the Global Youth Tourism Summit in the Italian city of Sorrento, the Georgian National Tourism Administration announced on Wednesday.