Abstracts - International Initiative for Georgian Cultural Studies

CULTURAL TOURISM
enjoy its riches. This is because for the past 20 years or so, no investment in infrastructure was made.
Roads are impassable, signage completely missing, and good hotels and restaurants hard to find. Despite
its moderate climate, and great appeal to tourists in search of new adventures, the hangover from the Soviet
period has taken a very long time to recover from.
One of the reasons for the lack of tourist-friendly investment in Georgia during communist times was
because Georgia was probably the most popular destination in the closed-Soviet Union and since people
came to visit regardless of the conditions, no efforts were made to enhance their experience. Until very
recently, the concept of attracting tourists, building comfortable and safe accommodations, restoring
crumbling ruins, or, indeed, providing up-to-date information in languages other than Georgian and Russian
was unheard of and efforts to do so were dismissed as a waste of time.
However, with the Rose Revolution and the changes in attitude and priorities wrought by the President,
new investment in infrastructure for attracting tourism has become a priority. The medieval walled town of
Signaki received over 30 million Lari in investment in electricity, water and sewage lines, completely new
streets and tiled roofs were installed, and the town is now absolutely beautiful, though the villagers have yet
to understand the need for shops, good restaurants and cafes. A similar investment is being made in the old
part of Kutaisi . Because of government low-interest loan initiatives, new hotels are popping up all over,
but still, the concept of shops, accessible restaurants and cafes hasn’t taken hold.
A recently completed Strategic Plan, developed with a TDA grant from the US Government to the
Department of Tourism and Resorts, lays out the problems, along with a strategy to address them. We
are all hoping that the necessary resources will be allocated by the Government of Georgia to solve these
problems.
Paata Shanshiashvili
International Technical Assistance Program of U.S. Department of the Interior. Georgia
Advancement of Georgia’s Tourism Competitiveness through Building of Protected Areas Network
Georgia is a small mountainous country with a population of few million people. Its landscapes include
a rich freshwater hydrographic network, foothills, mountain forests, sub-alpine and alpine meadows,
glaciers, the snowcapped mountain peaks of the Greater and Lesser Caucasus, which rise five thousand
meters above see level, the Black Sea coast, wetlands, the humid lowland forests of western Georgia, and
the arid steppe and semi-deserts of southeastern Georgia. Forests cover 40% of the country. The varied biogeographic
conditions contribute to the species richness, high level of endemism and global rarity of major
habitat types, as well as to the uniqueness and exceptionally high diversity of historic-cultural landscapes
Creating a protected areas system, focused on conservation of the nation’s natural and cultural legacy,
is a crucial part of the overall sustainable development of the country. It provides the nation with numerous
ecological and economic benefits, as well as offers international and local visitors attractive and aesthetically-pleasant
educational, recreational and adventure opportunities.
The National Protected Areas legislation provides legal framework for designation of 6 national and 3
global categories (World Heritage Site, Ramsar site and Biosphere Reserve).
The national protected areas categories mainly are managed for:
• Strict protection - Strict Nature Reserve / Wilderness Area
• Ecosystem conservation and recreation - National Park
• Conservation of natural features - Natural Monument
• Conservation through active management - Habitat / Species / Management Area
• Cultural Landscape conservation and recreation - Protected Landscape
• Sustainable use of natural ecosystems – Multiple Use Protected Area
Visitor use is a primary objective for National Park, Natural Monument and Protected Landscape. Tourism
activities are applicable for the Managed Nature Reserve and Multiple Use protected areas Categories.
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