According to the President of the Business Association of Mountain Resorts of Georgia and the founder of "Protect Mountain Resorts", there is currently no main problem - the lack of snow, which caused the season failure in the first months of last year.
“The weather is favorable, the artificial snow system is also working smoothly, we shall not face the problem with snow. Apart from that, two new cable cars have been added in the resort of Gudauri, which are in test mode. The main problem for us is the lack of reservations - Israeli tourists cannot arrive this season considering that it was Israelis who were guests of our resorts . We’ve also lost Ukrainians who had been active holiday makers for many years,” he says.
The seriousness of the problem is confirmed by the fact that in past years almost all hotels for the New Year holidays had been booked at this time, including February.
Speaking about the challenges, Salukvadze mentions many small problems that are not resolved spoiling the situation at the resorts , for example, in Gudauri the road to the cable cars has been undeveloped for many years.
“The problem is that this road is not the property of the state, it is owned by the development company Redco which does not take any measures. On February 3-4, the Snowboard World Cup stage will take place in Gudauri, all participants and spectators will walk along this road, and such a road is a shame for the country,” Gega Salukvadze notes.
There are other minor problems that spoil the reputation of the resort, for example, illegal kiosks, constant traffic jams, snowmobiles that drive haphazardly and can kill someone. drivers who stand at hotels and apartments, keep car engines on at night making noise and turning on the music at full volume, etc.
“This is a very strange situation - on the one hand, the government is actually doing a good job to provide the resorts development, but on the other hand, it can’t control elementary things,” Gega Salukvadze stresses.
"At this stage, we have no problem with snow in the winter resorts... the main challenge is the lack of reservations"
