Tourist Companies Get Acquainted with New Tourism Opportunities in Kharagauli Municipality
On July 28-29, EWMI ACCESS Grantee the Georgian Ecotourism Association (GEA) organized an information tour for leading Georgian tour operators. Tour participants got acquainted with new tourism products and facilities in the Kharagauli municipality (Leghvani and Parskhnali communities), visited new guesthouses, agro tourism farms, and other tourist attractions. They also visited Borjomi-Kharagauli National Park.
Community-based tourism development was named as a top priority at an open community meeting with EWMI ACCESS representatives held last October in Kharagauli. As a follow-up to this meeting, EWMI ACCESS is supporting the GEA in building the capacity of local residents and assisting them in developing and branding their tourism products.
With support from EWMI ACCESS, GEA selected potential tourism service providers in the villages of Marelisi, Leghvani, and Partskhnali, and helped them develop new tourist products, such as: tours to agro tourism farms, tastings of eco-products, horseback riding, traditional crafts expositions, etc. GEA also helped the owners of guesthouses redesign their existing infrastructure and add necessary services. New products and services were properly branded. In addition, GEA prepared the concept for developing an eco-village in one of the most attractive villages of Kharagauli municipality (village Sakhulari). The organization plans to present this concept to various stakeholders and push this idea forward.
