3rd Official Ceremony of the Welcome to Georgia! National Tourism Awards

On November 22, the Welcome to Georgia! National Tourism Awards Project, together with the Official Sponsor JSC Bank of Georgia, held a Press conference at the head office of the Bank.

The press conference was attended by Co-Founder/CEO of the Welcome to Georgia! National Tourism Awards, Maryna Chayka; Head of MSME Banking Department in Bank of Georgia, Zurab Masurashvili; Head of the Georgian National Tourism Administration, Giorgi Chogovadze; Deputy Head of the Economic Development Department at Tbilisi City Hall, Alexandre Togonidze; Partner of BDO Georgia, Maiko Khachidze and honorary Jury Member, Irakli Lekvinadze.

On December 6th, the Third Official Ceremony of the Welcome to Georgia! National Tourism Awards will be held at the Rustaveli Theater, where the 20 best companies will be named among the different nominations.

Bank of Georgia is the Official Sponsor of the Award Project for the second year and, within this partnership, two Special Nominations were created: “FASTEST GROWING COMPANY OF THE YEAR IN THE SME SEGMENT AWARD” and “THE BEST WOMAN ENTREPRENEUR IN THE TOURISM INDUSTRY AWARD”. Bank of Georgia is preparing special prizes for the winners of these two nominations, to be announced at the Official Ceremony itself.

270 different companies representing the tourism and hospitality market from all over Georgia, including hotels, travel agencies, festivals and events, restaurants, cafes, wineries, and travel photographers are hold the status of Nominees of the Welcome to Georgia! National Tourism Awards 2017.

Each nominee was assessed in accordance with internationally recognized methodology by the Professional Jury Board, which consists of experts of international and local travel, culture and hospitality markets, who were separated according to categories depending on their main professional activity. As a novelty, organizers implemented Round Table meetings for the Jury Board to analyze and discuss all processes. To guarantee fairness and transparency, independent auditor “BDO Georgia” monitored all the processes, calculated the results and, based on the points awarded to each Nominee, determined the finalists and the winners in each nomination.

The Official Awarding Ceremony is a closed event and will host more than 650 guests: all nominees and project partners, the government sector, private business, and international and local media.

The main mission of the Welcome to Georgia! National Tourism Awards is to encourage the tourism and hospitality industry in Georgia and to promote awareness of the high-achieving tourism business and brands that create a positive image of the country worldwide.

For the third year already, the Georgian National Tourism Administration of the Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Developments of Georgia is Co-organizer of the Award Project. Tbilisi City Hall is Official Supporter; Alliance Group is the General Sponsor of the Award Project.

“We see this project as globally important,” Maryna Chayka said. “The hospitality sector needs such a project that will motivate market leaders and help Georgia develop as a tourist destination”.

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