Irakli Gurchiani, the founder of hotel "Gistola", located in Mestia declares that Svaneti is currently a May-October resort, and even at this time, the hotel occupancy rate only reaches 60%.
According to him, the tourism potential of Svaneti will not be fully utilized without the Kutaisi-Mestia tunnel.
"The current year was not good in terms of tourism. Even June was not busy. An average occupancy rate was only 60% in July, August and September. After that, the tourist flow decreased so much that most of the hotels were closed. Despite, we have no guests, we cannot close the hotel, because it is very difficult to find the employees again.
I don't have high hopes for the new year either. Maybe, in the first 10 days, the load will be up to 30%. Then there is nothing until the end of April. In short, if the planned tunnel from Kutaisi to Mestia is not built, Svaneti will never become a winter resort. Svaneti is too far from Kutaisi with the existing roads. The money for the construction of the tunnel from Kutaisi to Mestia has been paid, but the project is not started yet. Svaneti is not a priority of the state. Therefore, placing high hopes on tourism is naive. Now Svaneti is a May-October resort. This tunnel is a salvation for Svaneti in every way.
As soon as this tunnel is built, any person from Tbilisi will be able to be in Mestia in 3-4 hours, which is completely acceptable.
Especially on weekends, there are too many people in Gudauri ski resort. At this time, the region with such great potential is not used", Gurchiani said.
