BAKU, Azerbaijan, Jan. 8
By Tamilla Mammadova – Trend:
In conditions of the COVID-19 pandemic, after several months of quarantine and self-isolation, the domestic tourism sector has been relaunched in Georgia, Igor Stepanov, Regional Director of Mastercard in Georgia and Central Asia told Trend.
"Travelers still have the opportunity to discover Georgia's protected areas, cultural monuments and recreation areas," he noted.
According to Stepanov, a memorandum of Understanding between Mastercard and the National Tourism Administration of the Georgian Ministry of Economy has been signed.
"The world's leading payments and technology company Mastercard will help the country in terms of sharing tourism-related data, knowledge, and analysis, as well as the planning of marketing activities and investments, completely free of charge. Prospects for future cooperation with regards to the development of digital technologies, electronic payments, and data analysis. The Memorandum of Understanding aims to facilitate cross-border tourists flow to the country, create additional jobs, enable further growth of the economy and establish Georgia as one of the main touristic destinations," he added.
As he noted, this memorandum will lay the foundation for strategically important projects and contribute to the development of tourism in Georgia. Mastercard's unique expertise in customer behavior trends, both internationally and domestically, will help revitalize the tourism industry, which is currently facing unprecedented challenges.
"In summer 2020, to support domestic tourism, Mastercard launched a campaign “Hello Summer”, which combines several different projects, with the main focus on Black sea region - Adjara, specifically Batumi," Stepanov added.
In this unprecedented times, 2020 was a big challenge for the tourism sector. Therefore, in such a reality, it is especially important to maximize the promotion of domestic tourism and strengthen the field, he said.
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