STRATEGY FOR TOURISM DEVELOPMENT IN PROTECTED AREAS IN GEORGIA Transboundary Joint Secretariat for the Southern Caucasus ASSESSING AND DEVELOPING THE ECO-TOURISM POTENTIAL OF THE PROTECTED AREAS IN GEORGIA Contract number: 2008.65.550 / 2013.11.001 Version: Final 26.03.2015 Issue/Version No.: Final Contract No.: 2008.65.550 / 2013.11.001 Date: 26.03.2015 Authors: Janez Sirse/Lela Kharstishvili Contact Information: Paula Ruiz Rodrigo Österreichische Bundesforste AG Consulting Pummergasse 10-12 3002 Purkersdorf Austria T: +43 2231 600 5570 F: +43 2231 600 5509 [email protected] www.oebfconsulting.at Financed by: Transboundary Joint Secretariat/APA ASSESSING AND DEVELO PING THE ECO - TOURISM POTENTIAL OF T H E PROTECTED AREA S IN GEORGIA TOURISM STRATEGY - FINAL CONTENT ANNEXES ....................................................................................................................... iii LIST OF FIGURES ............................................................................................................ iv LIST OF TABLES .............................................................................................................. v ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS ..................................................................................... vi 1 INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................. 8 2 METHODLOGY .................................................................................................. 10 3 PROTECTED AREAS AND PROFILE OF SELECTED 7 PAS IN GEORGIA ....................... 12 4 BASIC CHARACTERISTICS OF TOURISM IN PROTECTED AREAS IN GEORGIA ............ 16 4.1 TOURISM VISITS TO THE PROTECTED AREAS ....................................................... 16 4.2 INTENSITY OF TOURISM VISITS IN PROTECTED AREAS ......................................... 18 4.3 PROMOTION AND MARKETING OF TOURISM IN PROTECTED AREAS ........................ 19 4.4 ECONOMIC DIMENSION OF TOURISM IN THE PROTECTED AREAS ........................... 21 4.5 SAFETY SITUATION OF THE PAS IN GEORGIA....................................................... 22 5 SWOT EVALUATION OF SELECTED PAS ................................................................ 23 6 TOURISM STAKEHOLDERS IN PROTECTED AREAS ................................................. 24 7 TOURISM PRODUCTS AND POTENTIALS IN PAS .................................................... 26 8 TOURISM TRENDS AND GUIDING PRINCIPLES IN PROTECTED AREAS ..................... 28 8.1 KEY TOURISM TRENDS ...................................................................................... 28 8.2 TOURISM TRENDS IN PROTECTED AREAS ............................................................ 29 8.3 TOURISM GUIDING PRINCIPLES IN PAS .............................................................. 33 9 MARKET POTENTIAL FOR ECOTOURISM DEVELOPMENT IN PROTECTED AREAS IN GEORGIA ......................................................................................................... 35 9.1 MARKET SEGMENTATION ................................................................................... 35 9.2 MARKET POTENTIAL TO VISIT PAS IN GEORGIA ................................................... 38 10 SCENARIOS AND VISION OF TOURISM DEVELOPMENT IN PROTECTED AREAS IN GEORGIA ......................................................................................................... 41 10.1 SCENARIOS OF TOURISM DEVELOPMENT IN THE PROTECTED AREAS ...................... 41 10.2 VISION, MISSION AND OBJECTIVES OF TOURISM DEVELOPMENT IN PAS ................ 42 11 STRATEGIC PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT IN THE PROTECTED AREAS IN GEORGIA ........ 45 11.1 SBU – STRATEGIC BUSINESS UNIT PRINCIPLE FOR TOURISM PRODUCTS DEVELOPMENT ................................................................................................. 45 11.2 TOURISM PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT AND SPECIALIZATION IN PAS .......................... 46 11.3 TOURISM PRODUCT STRUCTURE IN PAS IN GEORGIA IN 2013 AND 2020 ................ 52 12 TOURISM STRATEGY IMPLEMENTATION MODEL .................................................... 54 12.1 DEVELOPMENT AND INVESTMENT PROJECTS ....................................................... 54 12.2 HR – HUMAN RESOURCE, EDUCATION AND TRAININGS ........................................ 56 12.3 PROMOTION AND MARKETING ............................................................................ 57 12.3.1 INFORMATION AND PROMOTION MATERIALS AND CUSTOMER RELATIONS .............. 58 12.3.2 PROMOTION, MARKETING AND SALES ................................................................. 59 12.3.3 BRAND DEVELOPMENT OF PAS IN GEORGIA ......................................................... 61 12.4 TOURISM DEVELOPMENT POLICY ........................................................................ 63 12.4.1 ORGANIZATION OF PAS MANAGEMENT AND STAKEHOLDERS’ COOPERATION .......... 63 12.4.2 QUALITY STANDARDS AND CERTIFICATION ......................................................... 66 ÖSTERREICHISCHE BUNDESFORSTE AG i ASSESSING AND DEVELO PING THE ECO - TOURISM POTENTIAL OF T H E PROTECTED AREA S IN GEORGIA TOURISM STRATEGY - FINAL 12.4.3 REVENUE POLICY AND CONCESSIONS ................................................................. 67 12.4.4 SUSTAINABLE TOURISM POLICY ......................................................................... 70 12.4.5 SAFETY AND SECURITY ..................................................................................... 73 13 SOME CONSIDERATIONS FOR FUTURE TOURISM DEVELOPMENT OF SELECTED PROTECTED AREAS ........................................................................................... 75 13.1 BORJOMI KHARAGAULI NATIONAL PARK - WILDERNESS & ECOSYSTEM ADVENTURES ................................................................................................... 75 13.2 JAVAKHETI PROTECTED AREA - THE SKY AND GROUND IN ONE: BIRDS, LAKES & LAND .............................................................................................................. 77 13.3 LAGODEKHI PROTECTED AREA - HIKING IN ENDLESS NATURE ............................... 79 13.4 MTIRALA PROTECTED AREA – ADVENTURE NATURE PARK ..................................... 81 13.5 TBILISI PROTECTED AREA - TBILISI CITY GREEN & LEISURE PARK ......................... 83 13.6 TUSHETI PROTECTED AREA - WELL-KEPT BEAUTY & SECRET OF NATURE ................ 85 14 EVALUATION OF EFFECTS OF STRATEGIC TOURISM DEVELOPMENT ........................ 88 14.1 ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL EFFECTS ....................................................................... 88 14.2 CHALLENGES AND RESTRICTIONS ...................................................................... 88 15 CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS ............................................................ 90 16 BASIC LITERATURE AND SOURCES ..................................................................... 93 17 ANNEXES ......................................................................................................... 94 ÖSTERREICHISCHE BUNDESFORSTE AG ii ASSESSING AND DEVELO PING THE ECO - TOURISM POTENTIAL OF T H E PROTECTED AREA S IN GEORGIA TOURISM STRATEGY - FINAL ANNEXES ANNEX 1 GNTA PARTICIPATION ON INTERNATIONAL TOURISM FAIRS IN 2014 ...................... 94 ANNEX 2 DETAILED SWOT ANYLSIS OF PROTECTED AREAS IN GEORGIA IN 2014 .................. 95 ANNEX 3 DMO – DESTINATION MANAGEMENT ORGANISATION MODEL ............................... 100 ANNEX 4 ILLUSTRATION OF SOME TOURIST PRODUCTS RELATED TO MAIN SBU S IN PROTECTED AREAS ......................................................................................... 103 ANNEX 5 PROPOSAL OF SELECTED INTERNATIONAL MARKETING PARTNERS AND CHANNELS FOCUSED ON NATURE AND ADVENTURE TOURISM ............................. 114 ANNEX 6 SOME EXAMPLES OF QUALITY STANDARDS, CERTIFICATION AND ORGANIZATION OF FRIENDS OF PAS ................................................................ 122 ÖSTERREICHISCHE BUNDESFORSTE AG iii ASSESSING AND DEVELO PING THE ECO - TOURISM POTENTIAL OF T H E PROTECTED AREA S IN GEORGIA TOURISM STRATEGY - FINAL LIST OF FIGURES FIGURE 1: MAP OF EXISTING AND PLANNED PROTECTED AREAS IN GEORGIA BY THE END OF 2014 ........................................................................................................ 12 FIGURE 2: AN ATTEMPT TO POSITION SELECTED PROTECTED AREAS .................................. 13 FIGURE 3: MAIN MOTIVES AND ACTIVITIES WHEN VISITING PAS IN GEORGIA FROM MARCH – OCTOBER 2013 .......................................................................................... 17 FIGURE 4: EVALUATION OF TOURISM FEATURES IN PROTECTED AREAS BY GEORGIAN INCOMING TOUR OPERATORS (STATUS MID 2014) ........................................ 20 FIGURE 5: THE MOST EXPOSED AND IMPORTANT SWOT ELEMENTS IN PAS IN GEORGIA ....... 23 FIGURE 6: IDENTIFICATION OF MAIN TOURISM RELATED STAKEHOLDERS IN PAS IN GEORGIA .................................................................................................. 25 FIGURE 7: ACTIVITIES OF ECO-TOURIST DURING ECOTRIP ................................................ 26 FIGURE 8: IDENTIFICATION OF EXISTING TOURISM PRODUCTS AND SERVICES IN SELECTED PAS IN GEORGIA (STATUS MID YEAR 2014)................................... 27 FIGURE 9: TOURISM TRENDS IN PROTECTED AREAS.......................................................... 30 FIGURE 10: THREE PILLARS OF ECOTOURISM ................................................................... 33 FIGURE 11: MATRIX OF TOURISM COMPATIBILITY AND PROFILES OF ECO-TOURISTS ACCORDING