"I hope everyone who is worried about tourism field will support me " At this stage, the position of the Head of the National Tourism Administration of Georgia is vacant.  A competition will be announced in the near future, in which Giorgi Chkhaidze, the head of the hotel "Wine Palace" and the wine shop "Brand Wine" is going to participate.  He spoke about the reasons for his decision and the priorities for the development of this field:

 

 - I think the National Tourism Administration should be headed by a well-versed, experienced staff in the tourism sector, who, among many other details, should be familiar with the activities of the hotel business.  This is a very delicate field that definitely needs constant action and development. Meetings with management and the participants of tourism sector should be held at least once a month, and in dialogue mode this will be one of the best ways to solve problems together.  In this regard, I have developed my program, which is focused on the development of this field.  I thought a lot before making this decision, but since I know what problems we are facing and I thought of ways to solve them, so I decided to apply.  Anyone who knows me knows that I do not like to talk in vain, I am a man of my word and I will do whatever I say.  I would like to add here that it is desirable if the application for the position of the head of the National Tourism Administration is submitted by people who represent tourism companies and work in the hotel business.  It is among them that a worthy candidate must be selected.

 

 - Tell us briefly about your profession, family and activities ...

 

 - My family members worked in the field of transport and served the country.  I also have a red diploma from the Faculty of Transport of the Technical University - I am an engineer by profession.  I also graduated from Ivane Javakhishvili University, Faculty of Law.

I am a Candidate of Technical Sciences, Associate Professor.  I'm a former athlete in Judo and Sambo.  I had a lot of success in this field as well, I wrestled in the Georgian national team - I won the title of champion among the youth, I was a prize-winner of the European Championship, the second and third place, and the three-time winner of the Pan American Games and the world youth champion.  I quit sports in 2004.  My hobby is viticulture and winemaking and my family has been doing this for a long time.  As for the hotel business, I have been in the field of tourism for 5 years.  I will soon be 44 years old.  I have a wife, three children: two girls and one boy.  We are expecting our fourth child in December.

 

 - If you became the head of the tourism administration, what would be your top 3 priorities?

 

 - First, to staff the tourism administration with professionals, people with experience in this area.  I want the business² to be handled by actually knowledgeable professionals.  The second is the development of regional tourism.  The guest who arrived in Georgia should know which corner to visit and where, what he will meet.  Third, the world's leading media  should produce as many commercials and stories about Georgia as possible.  That’s thosr three, but I will add the fourth and the fifth: the tourist flow in Georgia today is incorrectly registered.  For example, our citizen, who goes to work in Turkey for 2-3 weeks to pick tea or hazelnuts and returns, is registered as a tourist.  Suppose a person goes and returns three times a month, the same thing happens with accounting.  The issue of registration of our citizens as tourists definitely needs attention and correction.  The fifth and necessary thing to do is, as I have already told you, frequent meetings with both the representatives of the local tourism and the tourism leadership of the neighboring country.  This cooperation is of great importance in terms of promoting our country.  Visitors should travel to the regions and get to know our country and culture.  If this does not happen, I think we will not be able to take steps towards development in the tourism sector.

 

I hope the elections will be transparent.  I hope my colleagues and sensible people who are worried about the field of tourism will support me.  Together we will set priorities and urgently change and develop the tourism sector in our country.

 

Author: Ana Kalandadze

 

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