OPPORTUNITIES FOR AGRITOURISM IN THE CAUCASUS
Pandemic — Challenge or Opportunity for Agritourism Sector
Over 100 participants from various stakeholders in the agritourism sector in Georgia came together on April 12 at an almond orchard and buffalo farm in Kakheti Region to participate at the “Pandemic — challenge or opportunity for Agritourism Sector” outdoor conference. The event announced the launch of the web portal www.agrogate.world that will support agritourism enterprises from Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan to go digital, increase their business operations, and boost their revenues. The development of the new and innovative regional web platform is supported by the USAID Economic Development, Governance and Enterprise Growth (EDGE) Activity through a grant to Georgian Farmers’ Association (GFA) and is expected to serve over 100 agritourism enterprises once it goes online and becomes fully operational this June.
The platform will contain the full package of information on more than one hundred agritourism sites (destinations) in Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan. Tourists from all over the world will have the opportunity to search agritourism destinations in the South Caucasus based on location, services, prices, etc. They will also have online booking possibilities.
US Ambassador to Georgia Ms. Kelly C. Degnan addressing the audience at the event said: “The agritourism sector has been particularly hit hard during the COVID pandemic, but the future also holds opportunities. USAID has assisted these initiatives, including the partnership with Georgian Farmers’ Association, to develop innovative tools, such as to be this we launch today — the agrogate.world digital platform for supporting agriculture and agritourism businesses. I would like to highlight the regional approach, and really commend this regional approach to take full advantage of what Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan can offer. This whole South Caucasus region has so much to attract tourists here and so much shared interest such as agritourism.”
Ms. Nino Zambakhidze, Chairwoman of GFA made a presentation of Agrogate web portal and pointed out: “The platform created in Georgia will bring agritourism enterprises together, not only from the South Caucasus countries, but eventually from the whole world. The www.agrogate.world website will give the traveler an opportunity to book agritourism experiences online and will allow the tourists to participate in masterclasses and various tours. The USAID EDGE project is the project that became an inspiration for creating Agrogate.world”.
In addition to Ms. Zambakhidze, GFA Chairwoman, and Ambassador Kelly C. Degnan, the US Ambassador to Georgia, speakers at the high-level event included: Ms. Nino Tsilosani, Chairwoman of the Committee on Agrarian Issues at the Parliament of Georgia, Mr. Levan Davitashvili, Minister of Environmental Protection and Agriculture of Georgia, Ms. Natia Turnava, Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development of Georgia, and Mr. Igor Stepanov, Country Manager Georgia and Armenia at MasterCard through a video address.
Ms. Marika Olson, Director of USAID Georgia Economic Growth Office, and Mr. David Lelashvili, USAID EDGE Project Regional Representative, Caucasus presented EDGE project activities in the region.
