Businesses satisfied with the summer tourist season are facing challenges in the winter. Business representatives say that they can no longer maintain the current prices given the growing inflation. The restaurant industry is particularly concerned about rising food prices.
Miranda Esakia, founder of the restaurant “Drunken Cherry” in Gudauri, says that meat products and imported products have become especially expensive. According to her, the increase in product prices is also due to the fact that the business has to transport these products to Tbilisi during the season, and the staff is paid increased salaries. Miranda Esakia states that taking into account these factors, prices will probably be adjusted by 5% during the winter season.
“We cannot change the prices of the winter menu yet, due to the fact that prices for products are increasing more and more in December. Prices for meat products, imported products, have increased catastrophically. One month there is one price, the next month your planned price may completely change.
This has a very bad effect on us, we cannot regulate the average price, we increase this price and the consumer is dissatisfied.
Foreign vacationers do not notice these prices, such high-spending people go there that they do not have a problem with these prices. The only problem is for Georgian consumers, because neither salaries nor incomes of these people have increased in Georgia, and prices are increasing catastrophically.
Prices are also increasing in Tbilisi restaurants. We will probably increase prices by 5%, which was compared to last year due to inflation,” says Miranda Esakia, founder of the Drunk Cherry restaurant.
As for the tourist season, Miranda Esakia said that at this stage, there are no reservations in Gudauri, because the resort doesn't have snow. According to her, the business has no information on when the winter season will officially open. According to Esakia, the Mountain Resorts Agency is not talking to the sector about this issue.
“We are ready to meet tourists in business. We have fewer reservations in December and January, because there has been no precipitation in Georgia so far. Accordingly, based on past experience, since we do not have artificial snowmaking, everyone is refraining from making reservations during this period. "The MTA cannot give a specific date for when the winter season will open, when the cable cars will open, but we have a lot of activity in February and March," says Miranda Esakia, founder of the Drunk Cherry restaurant.
