Over 80 companies involved in the tourism industry gathered in the seaside resort of Batumi, the capital of the Adjara Autonomous Republic, between May 8 and May 10 to participate in Batumi Expo 2009, an event designed to promote and develop the tourism sector.   

The organizers held a press conference in Tbilisi on May 1 to discuss the problems of the coming tourist season and ways forward for the industry during the aggravating political and social situation in Georgia. David Lortkipanidze, Director of the National Museum of Georgia, Temur Diasamidze, Chairman of the Department of Tourism and Resorts of the Adjara Autonomous Republic, Petre Kankava the head of the Tourism and Resorts Department of the Ministry of Economic Development of Georgia, Jemal Inaishvili, the Chair of the Chamber of Commerce, Beka Jakeli the Chairman of the Tourism and Resorts Department of Georgia and the Director of Calypso Travel attended the conference.

Expo Batumi 2009 was held with the support of the Adjara Tourism Department and the Municipality of Batumi. It was organised by Calypso Travel in partnership with the National Museum of Georgia. Maximal, the leading Wi-max operator in Georgia, allowed the participants to enjoy wireless internet services at the venue. The Georgian Times Media Holding provided information support for the event.

At the exhibition Irma Kvachantiradze, Head of its Marketing and PR Department, said the event was important as it enabled various companies with common interests to establish contact and exchange ideas. “Representatives of travel agencies, commercial banks and investment funds, regional administrations, developers, hotels, representatives of the service industry, transport operators, insurance companies, tourism and leisure facility owners, advertising companies, publishers etc are here, all of them interested in making a contribution to the development of Georgian tourism,” she said.

The official opening ceremony took place at midday on May 8 and was followed by presentations  from the Adjara and Georgia Departments of Tourism and Resorts. Temur Diasamidze, Head of the Adjara Tourism Department, focused on the development of the tourism infrastructure and the role the NGO sector can play in providing support to the private sector. The President of international consulting company Business Forward gave master classes on the issue “Crisis is your chance.” The event also gave presentation opportunities to Hotels Cruise, Georgia Palace, New Georgia, Veziri Ltd., Ushba Distiller Ltd., the Russian tourism company Sirena Plus and Turkish Airlines. A media trip around Batumi followed and the first day ended with a cultural programme.

The second day began with a special conference on the development of tourism in the Georgian regions during the crisis. Various organizations and companies then made presentations, among them the Adjara Tourism Association, the Tourism Festival of Azerbaijan, Maria of Tbilisi, the Department of Tourism of Armenia, the International Film Festival, Kindzmarauli Marani Ltd,  the Agency of Protected Territories, Hotel Riverside and the Kobuleti College of Tourism. The day ended with a journey on a ship. On the last day of the exhibition IC Group, VillaGeo, Nokora, Binekh, G I M G , Klin-Teks Ltd, Radio Mtsvane Wave and the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of Turkey made presentations.  

Nugzar Chincharauli, Coordinator of the Economic Agency of Tourism at Tbilisi Municipality, says the Government is thinking of ways to strongly support tourism in the Adjara region as the economic crisis is raging. “We have to make Batumi competitive in this crisis. We are thinking of forging cooperation with Turkish companies and organising tours which will complement the trips in Tbilisi and Batumi.”