‘Batumi in Cinema’: a Retraining Program for the City Guides Begins

Batumi has long been an interesting subject for movie directors, and it comes as no surprise that cinematography there has a great history. Nothing helps tourism more than connecting it to a cultural context, and with Batumi’s best interests at heart, a new retraining program has begun for the local city guides.

Connecting the dots of cinematography to the tourism potential, the first day of training for the functioning city guides in Ajara opened with the topic of ‘Batumi in Cinema’. The ten-day retraining program not only focuses on the cinematographic aspect of the beautiful city of Georgia, though, as the city guides will go through trainings regarding the famous buildings of Batumi, the balconies, gardens, the people connected to the rich history of the city with background stories of their own, and the Georgian mythology and choreography – all crucial for the development of tourism in the region.

The concept and plan of the training was created with the support of the Ajara Tourism Department. The Department worked closely with those competent in the field to choose the themes worth highlighting the most.

“It is crucial for us to make the Batumi City Tour more fascinating and attractive for tourists,” said Tinatin Zoidze, Chairperson of Adjara Tourism Department. “That is why we went through a process of consulting the guides and then from their feedback, created a retraining course for them. The new training program is focused on spotlighting stories from the city’s rich historic culture. These topics will give the guides the opportunity to individually develop the culture of city guiding in Batumi and better represent our city. We are already planning to issue an educational book which will include all the differently-themed city tours of Batumi and will help new guides plan their tours interestingly and efficiently.”

All the entities interested, even those who are not employed as guides, can and are encouraged to attend the trainings. Attendance is free for all, though it requires registration, the form of which can be found online on the Department’s website.

The training program that kicked off this with the topic of ‘Batumi in Cinema’ will wrap up on December 8.

By Nini Dakhundaridze

Image source: Ajara Tourism Department