CLOSING EVENT OF THE ESTONIAN-GEORGIAN PROJECT

The closing ceremony of the Estonian-Georgian 2-year project “Development of rural tourism products in Dedoplistskaro, Georgia”, sponsored by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Estonia, was held in the hotel “Autograph”  in Dedoplistskaro.

Representatives of the Estonian Embassy in Georgia attended the meeting together with the representatives of the Estonian Rural Tourism Organization (ERTO)

and the members of the Dedoflistskaro Tourism Development Association (DTDA): Consul, Ms. Katrin Moon-Farouk and Ms. Ketevan Abazashvili – Coordinator of the Cooperative Projects Development, as well as the First Deputy Mayor of the Dedoflistskaro Municipality, Mr. Gela Samukashvili.

The main goal of the project was to improve the quality of tourism services and products in the Dedoplistskaro district by raising awareness and improving the knowledge and skills of local tourism entrepreneurs.

Project manager Ms. Silia Lehtpuu spoke about the progress and the results of the project.

During the past period, the seven local certified experts in the quality of tourism products were trained.

Within the framework of the project, the local tourist resources of Dedoplistskaro and the existing condition of the facilities were studied, and ways of improvement were determined. Then, on the basis of the international requirements, the experience of the Estonian rural tourism organization, and the opinions of local entrepreneurs, quality criteria of tourism products/services were developed for 9 categories of services:

• Accommodation service provider without food and with food service;
• Provider of agrotourism services (farm tours, tastings, offering to participate in practical activities, etc.) without food and with food service;
• Food preparation master class providers (preparation, tasting, degustation, etc.)
• Food suppliers (restaurants, cafes, food supply for events (catering), etc.), manufacturers, tastings
• Cultural heritage (handicrafts/souvenirs/events/workshops) based service provider
• Nature tourism (recreational services and activities) service providers
• Guide service
• Transport service provider – for transport business and any other business that provides transport services as part of its core service
• Equipment/inventory rental service provider.

The tourism expert Mrs. Nana Kartvelishvili and Mrs. Manana Inashvili, specialist in the quality development of tourism products of DMO “Visit Kakheti” were involved in the development of quality criteria for tourist products.

The working version of the quality criteria was tested in different categories of businesses. The final version of the criteria was translated into Georgian and published on the website of the Association: https://dtda.ge/

Local entrepreneurs were actively involved in this process. The 23 applications were submitted to the Association for the “Good Host” label and certificate. An external evaluation of the companies was carried out by a group of experts, and the 15 entrepreneurs who met the established criteria were identified.

At the closing event of the project, the “Good Host” labels and certificates were awarded to the following entrepreneurs:

Hotel “Autograph”

Villaggio Mirzaani Resort

Guest house “Savanna”

Guest house “Kera”

Guest house “Mary Poppins”

Nasrashvili family winery

Nino Meris wine cellar

Goderdzi Gonashvili’s wine cellar

Ethno-house in Arboshiki

Vashlovani Tour – for transport services

Camping “Eagle Valley”

LLC “Mtsvane Veli”

Irina’s Cafe “Cappuccino”

Maya Kharashvili – for the service of tasting traditional dishes

Manana Katashvili – for the guide service.

“Good host” labels and certificates were presented to the entrepreneurs by Mrs. Riley Mengel, the chairman of the Estonian Rural Tourism Organization (ERTO), and Mrs. Katrin Moon – Farouk, Consul of Estonia.

At the same time, with the help of the Estonian Rural Tourism Organization, trainings were held for local entrepreneurs for nature tourism guide and transport services, culinary tourism, creating/designing a tourist product, using innovative ecological solutions in tourism, online marketing, prospects for organizing handicraft workshops and other directions.

An important experience for entrepreneurs from Dedoplistskaro was a study visit to Estonia. During this trip, we visited 33 different types of rural tourism facilities, learned about their development and success stories, and saw the opportunities for the development of our businesses.

Mr. Teimuraz  Popiashvili, a member of the association, spoke about his impressions of this trip. Mrs. Nana Kartvelishvili shared the positive lessons of the study tour.

Speaking about the results of the project, the chairman of the association, Ms. Manana Katashvili, noted that our organization’s partnership with the Estonian Rural Tourism Organization was supported by the European Union project “PROCEED” within the framework of the ENPARD II rural development project (HEKS-EPER and the Association of Biological Farms “Elkana”). The European Union has financed 18 objects of the tourism sector in the Dedoplistskaro municipality with the amount of 835921 GEL, co-financing of the beneficiary – 567779 GEL (total 1 403 700 GEL).

At the beginning of 2020, Dedoplistskaro officially had a total of 1 hotel, 2 guesthouses, 1 wine cellar, and 2 facilities offering handicraft workshops.

Currently, 3 hotels are operating, and 1 soon will be opened.

Guest houses – 4 and 2 will be opened soon.

wine-cellar – 7

Agro-tourism facilities -2 and 1 will be opened soon.

Nature tourism objects

2 objects of tourism based on cultural heritage and 1 object will be opened soon.

All of them are marked on Google Maps with the UNDP-funded project implemented by the DTDA.

Implementation of a rural tourism product quality program helped the development of the tourism business in Dedoplistskaro municipality;

We have quality services/products prepared for visitors;

The criteria established for obtaining the “Good Host” quality label and certificate, adapted to international experience, Georgian legislation, and local conditions in Georgia, help entrepreneurs and service providers involved in tourism and will help us in the future in self-evaluation, development, and refinement of an action plan for improvement, enduring healthy competition, marketing, and increasing revenues.

It is easier for beginners to create new businesses/services;

District visitors and potential guests will help to find and choose the desired service.

Having many labeled services will increase the overall number of visitors to the area, as well as the amount of time they spend at the destination.

Systematic attention to quality improvement and continuous monitoring of the process will be implemented.

 

 

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