A BRIEF Q&A WITH TINIKO KHANJALIASHVILI, FORMER HEAD OF DMO VISIT KAKHETI
Tiniko Khanjaliashvili, Head of the Commission on Economy and Property management at Telavi Municipality Council, has multiple years of experience with International Donors, NGOs, Local and Regional Government as well as with business in all municipalities of Kakheti. Tinatin until recently was the Executive Director of DMO Visit Kakheti. She is a co-founder of the NGO “Kakheti Civic League” and author of a few projects and project proposals focused on Gender Equality, Social Policy-making and Youth Participation in public policy-making, etc.
DMO Visit Kakheti was established in February 2019, by the mayors of all municipalities of Kakheti Region and the administration of the State Representative in Kakheti Region, Georgia. How did the idea for establishing Visit Kakheti came about?
The idea of establishing DMO Visit Kakheti was formed at the level of the National Tourism Administration of Georgia as well as on the regional level at the Governor’s office in Kakheti. This was a logical response of decentralizing the national tourism strategy and policy due to the fact that the number of tourists in Georgia dramatically boosted in the country before COVID-19 outbreak in 2020.
Destination management organizations (DMOs) play a vital role in promoting tourism in the country, region or town to tourists, tour operators and intermediaries, which is especially beneficial in a highly competitive tourism market. What are some of the Visit Kakheti greatest achievements since its founding?
DMO Visit Kakheti played an important role in diversifying the tourist products in the region being branded as the Wine Destination N1. We managed to properly promote the amazing natural and cultural resources of Kakheti, we managed to digitalize the Kakheti on Google map. This resulted in promoting domestic tourism and attracted a huge number of domestic tourists to Kakheti in 2020–2021.
Last year in October, EDGE in cooperation with DMO Visit Kakheti, and in partnership with the Hospitality Industry Association of Ukraine, National Tourism Administration of Georgia, National Tourism Association of Moldova (ANTRIM), State Tourism Agency of Azerbaijan, and in collaboration with the USAID Economic Security Program, and the USAID Zrda Activity organized DMO study visit in Kakheti region in Georgia for representatives of recently established DMOs in Azerbaijan, Moldova, and Ukraine. What was your role during this five-day visit, and what can we expect as a result of this regional cooperation?
The role of DMO Visit Kakheti in the event mentioned above was to organize it as to the preferences of the organizing party as well as to show the representatives of the Tourism Sector as many different ventures in Kakheti as possible this time involved in Wine Tourism, the leading niche, of the region. The outcome of the visit can be manifold and mostly, it can promote the inter-regional cooperation between DMOs in experience sharing as well as planning and developing multi-regional tourist products.
In November 2021, Visit Kakheti was one of the participants in the two-day Georgian — Armenian DMOs Meeting for Regional Collaboration in Akhaltsikhe, Georgia. What was discussed at this meeting, what were the conclusions, and what joint products can be developed
The main topic of discussions for Armenian and Georgian DMOs meeting was a regional collaboration for inter-regional destinations management that includes:
· Creating a potential to spread demand for both countries: with a themed approach, a destination can generate benefits in peripheral regions including those in Georgian — Armenian bordering regions;
· Protecting and promoting the natural and cultural heritage — both tangible and intangible, through generating income for preservation and providing economic viability to activities which might otherwise be “lost”, particularly those related to more traditional sectors such as intangible heritage or handicraft;
· Developing cultural understanding and strengthening of social cohesion and the cultural links between people at the local, regional, national and most importantly international levels;
· Lowering barriers between neighboring countries, through developing mutually beneficial tourism flows — It can enable frontier regions to create attractions and products that would not be viable if undertaken alone;
· Attracting a high level of interest from consumers and the media;
· Enhancing abilities to promote the unique attributes of destinations — “thematic branding of destinations will heighten a regions’ distinctiveness, particularly when it shares a similar geography and culture with its neighbors”;
· Enhancing the capacity to develop a greater level of cohesion within the tourism industries of both countries.
As a follow-up of this meeting, DMO Visit Kakheti, DMO Samckhe-Javakheti and four Armenian DMOs agreed to develop transnational tourism products including transnational tour routes in Georgia and Armenia.
Global tourism experienced a 4% upturn in 2021, compared to 2020 (415 million versus 400 million). However, international tourist arrivals (overnight visitors) were still 72% below the pre-pandemic year of 2019, according to preliminary estimates by UNWTO. How can DMO’s attract more visitors in the post-COVID-19 era?
In the post-COCIVD-19 era, the domestic tourism is the one that has to be most promoted by the DMOs. As to international travel, I guess all the other means of promotion that were used before the outbreak of pandemic, will stay effective and more digitalization, diversification of tourist products, as well as more safety measures at destinations, will be the added value that can guarantee an increased flow of international travels. People are tired on pandemic-related stress and tailored offers will always lure them to enjoy and have different experiences.
