Georgia, Tbilisi, Jul.9 / Trend N.Kitzkhalia /
Perspectives of developing tourism between Georgia and Japan were discussed during the meeting between the Tourism and Resorts Department Chairman Petre Kankava and Japanese ambassador to Georgia Masayoshi Kamohara. The ambassador expressed his readiness to support Georgia to increase the number of incoming Japanese tourists.
The share and number of incoming visitors from Japan in the Georgian travel market is too high, but it has dropped after the Georgian-South Ossetian conflict.
Japanese tourists prefer organized tours to individual tours. They travel for cultural and adventure tours. Their solvency is quite high. According to the statistics, a Japanese tourist's three-day expense is equal to a weekly expense of a tourist from another country. This fact once again confirms that Japan is a prospective and important tourist markets for the Georgian tourism industry
The meeting also mulled the GUAM meeting which outlined creating a unified tourist product. The ambassador got interested in the project, voicing his readiness to implement it.
The air transportation was also discussed during the meeting. Presently, there is no direct flight between Georgia and Japan and it causes some difficulties for travelers. Japanese tourists spend almost 22 hours on the way. It is possible to arrange charter flights beginning from 2010 in case group tours are organized
The ambassador expressed his satisfaction with possible opening of flights between Georgia and China, as the flight from Japan to China is very cheap. This will help to increase the number of tourists from Japan.
Kanakava emphasized that Georgia is a safe country for all travelers and introduced Kamohara all current projects aimed at opening a tourist data center in Tbilisi, installing web-cameras in some tourist places. Kanakava initiated a media tours for the Japanese journalists to Georgia. The journalists will have an opportunity to travel around the country and get familiarized with Georgia's tourism potential.
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