Representatives from the tourism sector met with the National Tourism Administration to discuss on how businesses can mitigate the impact of crises triggered by events in the Middle East.

Giorgi Dolidze, Director of HSC Group Hospitality, said on Commersant FM radio that the private sector and the state share the view that the market diversification in recent years, is in fact the way out in today's reality. In the short run, direct flights from numerous locations can be used to partially offset and cover the deficit caused by the Middle East crisis.

The National Tourism Administration is actively holding discussions with the private sector. The situation in the Middle East has had a direct impact on Georgia, as Israel and the United Arab Emirates are major and crucial tourist destinations for our country.

It's hard to make long-term plans when we're all depend on things we can't really control.

Despite it being the low season, visitors still come, we've adjusted our prices to be more competitive. Our focus is on neighboring countries such as Turkey, Russia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, and others. We also know that people from neighboring countries travel a lot to the UAE, and it's quite possible they saw Georgia as a close and easy alternative.


"We're lowering prices. We're offering discounts from 15% to 25%. The standard prices, which have been in effect since May, are 10% higher than those from the same period last year," Giorgi Dolidze stresses.