Audit Office: 28 Million Worth ‘Check in Georgia’ Project Saw 3m Income
Georgia’s State Audit Office (SAO) says that within the frames of the Project ‘Check in Georgia’, 28 million GEL was spent from the state budget, while the income from sold tickets amounted to over 3 million GEL.
According to the SAO report, the Government allocated 28 million GEL for financing the ‘Check in Georgia’ cultural project in 2016.
This project envisaged the implementation of various activities:
- World Class Arena Show – 4 activities
- Regional concerts in 17 towns - 46 activities
- Batumi street performances - 40 activities
- Concerts held in Batumi
Out of all held concerts, only three were chargeable: Eros Ramazzotti, Robbie Williams and MAROON 5 concerts. All of the other concerts were free.
According to the Audit Service, the total income, received from the sale of tickets of these 3 concerts, totaled 3,044,030 GEL.
The conclusion also notes that the selling of tickets of the concerts was carried out by LEPL "Cultural Investment Fund" and LLC "Online Tickets".
As a result of the study, the Audit Service stated that 3,719 tickets remained unsold, the cost of which amounted to 141,840 GEL.
The Ministry of Culture stated that the project helped to increase the inflow of tourists in to the country. However, the Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) Georgian Young Lawyers' Association (GYLA) conducted a survey which showed the contrary.
According to the GYLA survey, visitors from 49 countries arrived to attend the abovementioned three major events in Georgia within the frames of the project "Check in Georgia" in 2016, but this amounted to about 5% of the sold tickets, and in total, the visitors who attended the events amounted to only 0.05% of the total number of tourists in 2016.
By Thea Morrison