The new advisor to the Economy Minister in the field of tourism, Valery Chekheria, explains the main directions of his activities. According to the representative of the tourism sector, he will give the advice directly to the Minister of Economy, who will then discuss it in coordination with the Tourism Administration.
“I will not be involved in the internal processes of the Ministry. Coordination will be with the Minister, her Deputy or the Tourism Administration, but I will have recommendations directly with the Minister, which of course we will be discussed with the Tourism Administration," - said Valeri Chekheria.
Valeri Chekheria considers attracting high-income tourists and consequently, new markets will be a priority.
"I will focus on European tourism. I will try my best to focus on American tourism as well, given that active vaccination is taking place in the USA. Now I'm going back to the US and the focus will be on more high-income tourism. At the very first meeting with the Prime Minister, the focus was on the exploration of new markets in order to attract high-spending tourists.
Attracting as many tourists as possible this year will be a good result. Let's count how many tourists we will have at the end of the year. We do not have the ambition to return to the pre-pandemic levels, but we have a very good start due to the geographical location ... Arab countries are interested and we have already noticed travelers from these countries in the streets of Batumi," Valeri Chekheria said.
According to him, the Coordination Council took the decision to open indoor spaces at the restaurants on weekends due to the increasing tourist number.
