The Welcome to Georgia! National Tourism Awards Holds Press Conference

On December 13, the Headquarters of the Bank of Georgia hosted a press conference regarding the Welcome to Georgia! National Tourism Awards.

The press conference was attended by the Co-Founder/Managing Partner of Welcome to Georgia! National Tourism Awards, Maryna Chayka; Deputy Head of the Georgian National Tourism Administration, Medea Janiashvili; Head of the Municipal Department of Economic Development of Tbilisi City Hall, Andria Basilaia; Partner of BDO Georgia, Maia Khachidze; and Head of Retail Business Banking Department of Bank of Georgia, Zurab Masurashvili.

Zurab Masurashvili focused on the developing trend of tourism in Georgia and expansion of varieties of tourist services in the country. He also underlined the significance of improvement seen in the quality of services.

Maryna Chayka spoke about the Award Ceremony and announced that this year the format will be modified, with a number of categories added to the list. She also mentioned that the guests of the event will be delivered information about the present statistics of the tourism industry and the perspectives of its development. Chayka intrigued the audience by announcing a surprise which will be revealed on December 17, the day of the Awards, to be held in Rustaveli Theater. The winners of 20 nominations among more 350 participants will be revealed at the event.

The Award ceremony is a closed event to be attended by more than 800 guests: the project nominees and partners, representatives of the government and business sectors, and international and local media.

Each nominee has been assessed using an internationally recognized method by the Awards’ independent jury, comprised of international and domestic tourism and hospitality professionals. This is the 4th year the transparency and impartiality of the assessing process for all the nominees has been guaranteed by the independent audit of BDO Georgia. BDO Georgia is also to reveal the winners of each nomination.

For the past two years, Bank of Georgia has been the official sponsor of the project and this year carries the status of the co-organizer of the project. Within the scope of the partnership, Bank of Georgia has outlined three special categories: ‘The Best Woman Entrepreneur in the Tourism Industry,’ ‘ICREATE – the Most Successful Georgian Brand in the Tourism Industry’ and ‘The Fastest Growing Company of the Year in SME Segment’. The winners of these categories will be awarded special prizes by Bank of Georgia.

The ceremony is to be held for the fourth time with the co-organization of the Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development of Georgia and the Georgian National Tourism Administration. Official supporters of the event are Tbilisi City Hall and the Partnership Fund. The co-organizer of the project is Bank of Georgia. The Independent audit – BDO Georgia.

By Ketevan Kvaratskheliya