Georgia Expresses Interest in Hosting Winter Olympics

- It’s snow joke!

Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili spoke at a Governmental meeting yesterday, expressing Georgia’s desire to host the Winter Olympics. He called on Ministers to “approach the issue as realistically as possible.” 

“We have a very concrete, ambitious plan, which will help stimulate the development of the country in a short amount of time. The sheer announcement of Georgia’s interest in hosting the games is important by itself – but more importantly, it is also realistic,” said Kvirikashvili. 

Kvirikashvili says that the honor of hosting the Winter Olympic Games would be invaluable for the entire country. 

“The realization of the plan will lead to the creation of a huge number of work places, an increase in tourists which would also mean additional income for Georgian families; this will stimulate the development of tourism-related industries such as transport, agriculture, communications and so on. We are taking it upon ourselves to solve an issue that could have a colossal effect on the entire state,” Kvirikashvili stated. 

Last month, Kvirikashvili met with the President of the organization, Tomas Bach, at the Olympic Committee’s headquarters in Geneva to ask for backing. The IOC President told Kvirikashvili that he would send a special team of experts and advisors to study the capability of Georgia to host the event. 

Georgia hopes to host the 2023 World Ski Championships. On May 1 2017, the Ski Federation of Georgia nominated Bakuriani as the potential location. In this competition, Georgia are rivaled by the Finnish resort town of Ruka Kuusamo, which has hosted such events in the past. 

Georgia has already tried to host the Winter Olympics, back in 2014. The competition would have been held in Borjomi, but the IOC was unsupportive, and the idea didn’t make it past the first round of decision making.

By Tom Day