Holiday Factory Named Best Incoming Tour Operator 2019 at Welcome to Georgia! Awards
Tour operator Holiday Factory was named the Best Incoming Tour Operator 2019 at the 2019 Welcome to Georgia! National Tourism Awards event held in Sheraton Grand Metekhi Palace in Tbilisi on December 6.
Holiday Factory is well known not just for its excellent service, but also for its unbeatable holiday package prices, serving clients mainly from the United Arab Emirates and the GCC countries. GEORGIA TODAY sat down with Kara Buell, General Manager of Holiday Factory Georgia, to find out more about their work and their reaction to receiving the above recognition.
“It's a great honor to be recognized as the best Tour operator of the Year,” she tells us. “We thank our customers and all of our staff in Georgia and around the world. This award is a reflection of our hard work and the love we promote Georgia with every day. I truly can say that Holiday Factory loves Georgia!"
Holiday Factory was the first operator in Dubai and the UAE to create the hype and mass-advertise Georgia as a tourist destination, which it did from 2015. Holiday Factory managed to catapult Georgia from a completely unknown tourist destination to among the top three most in-demand travel destinations in the UAE. We asked Kara what made Holiday Factory so strong that it was awarded the Best Incoming Tour Operator award this year.
“We see this award came about because we managed to bring so many guests to Georgia and this is a continuation of the great pioneer work we did in promoting Georgia as a holiday destination in the UAE years ago,” Kara says. “Besides our massive efforts to promote Georgia, the free visa regulations for UAE residents were very important and we are thankful to the Georgian government and the Georgian Tourism Board for recognizing the direct influence of visa regulations on the travel industry.”
Kara notes that Holiday Factory follows German tourism standards and is very much focused on long-term business and sustainability. All its tour guides are trained and follow the European travel standards which Holiday Factory has implemented.
“Clients recognize not only the affordable prices but the outstanding tour guide services, which increase the number of returning guests by the year,” she adds.
We ask her about the company’s long-term goals.
“Supporting the local economy is our goal. More tourists visit Georgia during the summer months than in winter. By not following the classical tourism trends of the region, Holiday Factory balances the number of guests, and during the winter season, brings the same number of tourists to Georgia as during the summer season.”
Kara notes that just last weekend, within 48 hours, the company brought more than 500 tourists to Tbilisi.
“Bringing so many guests during the winter period is direct support to the hotels and to the local Georgian economy,” she says.
Holiday Factory Georgia was established as its own company in Tbilisi in 2018 in order to support the investment in the travel industry in Georgia. The company offers clients affordable tour packages which include flight, hotel, excursions, and tour guide services, insurance, airport transfer and everything costumers needs to travel hassle free to Georgia.