Browsing by Author "Vatsadze, Ineza"

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    Georgian family wine tourism: opportunities for development, challenges and ways to overcome them
    (Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University Press, 2023) Vatsadze, Ineza; Aladashvili, Manana; Khechikashvili, Maia
    Georgia has all the good things that are necessary for the development of wine tourism: the history of wine- growing, the unique technology of wine production, the abundance of grape varieties and the natural conditions that contribute to the production of unique wine. Wine tourism is a relatively new field of business. Its development significantly contributes to solving socio- economic problems in rural areas. The identification of existing problems in Georgian family wine tourism and the search for ways to overcome them is the main goal of this article. In order to identify the problems, we investigated family wine cellars, for which we used a common method of quantitative research - a mass survey, which was carried out through telephone interviews of producers of wine tourism products in the regions. Out of 144 wineries surveyed, 122 wineries are engaged in wine tourism, and 89% believe that wine tourism fully met their expectations. It is also important that 86% of the surveyed respondents confirmed that the visit of wine tourists has a significant impact on the sales of wine on the spot. Wine production and wine tourism have the same benefits for 80.3%, it is also worth noting that all respondents believe that wine production will increase as a result of the close connection between winemaking and tourism. Family members are involved in the vast majority of family winery wine tourism businesses. 72.9% of the interviewed respondents have the problem of qualified labor, entrepreneurs consider financial assistance (89.3%), raising the qualifications of employees (72.9%), organizing the infrastructure (62.2%) and cheap credit necessary for the development of wine tourism. In our opinion, family wine tourism is getting bigger and bigger and has great potential for development. The state should take more active steps to help small wineries:  to help in order of infrastructure  Long-term financing programs tailored to small wineries should be established  Banking sector should help small and medium wineries to get low interest loans  It would be good if educational projects were started for owners of small wineries (training of professional personnel, training in a foreign language).  It is important to raise awareness about Georgian wine, so it would be good to create a single electronic platform where video reviews about wineries will be posted.  Online stores are also a good idea, which are already easily accessible for wine lovers. This will be a good advertisement and will increase the awareness of family wineries, which will allow family wineries to attract both local and foreigners interested in exporting wine.
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    Methodological recommendations for forming and developing priority directions of Racha rural tourism
    (Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University Press, 2020) Katsitadze, Nana; Vatsadze, Ineza
    The European Union countries consider rural tourism development as one of the most relevant economic growth alternatives in poor and depressed regions. This field of tourism consumes diverse resources in rural and surrounding areas, therefore, rural tourism can be implemented in various ways. As a fact, the regions, which are rich with tourism resources, get an opportunity to meet the customer needs better and at the same time, get economic efficiency by broadly utilizing the resources in the household turnover. As a result, agrotourism is attracting field for the country such as Georgia. The majority of the research papers dealing with the problematic issues in rural tourism is based on the concept, that development of rural tourism depends on natural resources. We agree with the consideration that tourism as a multidimensional and intersecting socio-economic phenomena is based on using various resources while the efficiency of using tourism resources is based on the factors which either create conditions for success or limit them. Nowadays, international tourism trends revealed that for the success of the countries with small economies, it is more crucial to use innovative management approaches optimally rather than the existence of tourism resources. Tourism research, as well as general regional economic study and ensuring the use of applied research direction, needs many-sided analysis of resources. For revealing the potential of the destination, the paper provides the forecast of rural tourism development based on the following algorithm: 1. Identification of customer needs in the following directions: motivations, priorities, determining the potential amount and structure of tourist flows, target segment; 2. Evaluating the resource potential of forming rural tourism product of the destination; 3. Organizational and legal field analysis; 4. Analysis of the fields of logistics and information provision. Customer research on different types of rural tourism varieties showed the demand for rural tourism directions in preferential order: a) recreational rural tourism; b) wine tourism; c) medical and wellness tourism; d) gastronomy tourism. In terms of regional scale, greater efficiency is met where territorial and functionally organized recreation areas are formed. As a result of historical analysis of the development models of agrotourism, the countries chosen are close to Georgia (Italy, Bulgaria) with their tourism resources and circumstances. For example, Italian model of rural tourism with its resource and context directions is similar to Racha’s tourism resource potential and demanded types of services. The abundance of natural sightseeings, the experience of producing good wines and the high quality traditional cuisine have an exceptional place in the “success formula” of Italian rural tourism. Even though wine and gastronomy tourism development have already achieved some level in Racha, the experience of Western Europe to establish thematic wine villages is not applied as yet. In terms of recreation tourism practice in Racha, Bulgarian model of rural tourism development also seems relevant, which provides a pleasant environment for a family vacation. This model corresponds to recreation resource potential of Racha, recreation tourism traditions and limited financial capacity. Bulgarian model is convenient for the regions, where living space is characterized with low level of comfort; however, the area is rich with natural and cultural-historical resources. This model is accepted as a pattern for “third wave” countries - the countries, which do not have sufficiently comfortable accommodation as frequently met in western Europe. Bulgarian model for high value recreational destination also include: construction of big and medium-size tourism units with specialized private hotels and other tourist services, which is relevant to Shaori reservoir, as well as recreation tourism development concepts for Shovi and Utsera territories. This model needs significant investments and working on special projects. Each discussed model needs a different types of government involvement on each level.
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    Study of the attitude of local community towards rural tourism business (the case of Racha, Georgia)
    (Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University Press, 2019) Vatsadze, Ineza
    The attitude of the local population towards rural tourism business is one of the most important factors in the development of this direction of tourism. The study of this attitude, the main purpose of the this article, was carried out according to willingness to do rural tourism business, relevant skills and psychological readiness, as well as the ability to assess the quality of tourism services and identify harmful factor in the development of rural tourism. We used the method of sociological research (Face-to-face interview and phone interview). 174 respondents from different villages of Racha were interviewed. 75.2% of respondents have a positive attitude to the development of rural tourism business, express a desire to go into this field of activity. 42.7% of respondents have no any entrepreneurial experience, so in case of practical implementation of their will, they will need to be trained. 83.2% of applicants are aware of the potential difficulties associated with a partial change in lifestyle while doing business. 74.2% of respondents are confident that they will be able to independently cope with the functions of the host. This optimism may be due to the fact that the respondent may want to have a small business, or he is not aware of the technology of doing business. Those willing to go into the tourism business express their readiness to offer tourists other forms of service (auxiliary tourism product)along with the main forms of tourism services (accommodation, food), including a guide during the various tourism activities; 56.5% of respondents believe that their family can serve tourists at average level, 36.6% realize that the services provided in their family can now get “below average” score, only 6,9% believe that they can offer a higher level of service. More than 39% think that the major home repairs are required to improve the quality of accommodation. The vast majority of respondents, 92.4%, believe that the main problem of rural tourism is the difficulty of access to finance. In terms of severity, unregulated infrastructure is in second place. Most of the respondents hope to use non-local agricultural products to provide food services. The results of the study conducted can be used in the development of municipal and regional programs for the development of rural tourism.