PROMOTING AGRITOURISM OPPORTUNITIES IN THE SOUTH CAUCASUS
Growth in the agrotourism industry has exploded in recent years as urban dwellers seek out nature, relaxation, and connection with traditional living and food production. COVID-19 has accelerated this trend with unique rural and agriculture experiences being a preferred choice for travelers. Recognizing the potential for growth of agritourism enterprises, three associations and businesses partnered with USAID Economic Development, Governance, and Enterprise Growth (EDGE) project to promote agritourism and improve regional partnerships and collaborations among South Caucasus countries of Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan. Below are some brief highlights from the Georgian Farmers’ Association (GFA) in collaboration with Center for Agribusiness and Rural Development (CARD) from Armenia, and Savour Travel from Azerbaijan.
To increase the visibility of agritourism opportunities in the region and the convenience for customers in booking their agritourism adventures, GFA — with EDGE support — developed and launched the first specialized booking web portal Agrogate.world for agritourism in the South Caucasus. There are over 100 agritourism SMEs registered in the portal: 56 from Georgia, 31 from Armenia, and 16 from Azerbaijan. The web portal helps travelers to easily identify agritourism sites in these countries, plan a trip, make travel arrangements, and book a visit and at the same time supports the agritourism enterprises to digitize, increase business operations, and boost revenue. The Agrogate.world portal went live in September 2021 and is the first agritourism online platform in the South Caucasus to offer travelers a vacation in a traditional agricultural environment.
In 2021, GFA with its partners CARD and Savour Travel conducted training in gastronomy and food safety, digital marketing, online reservations, and social media for the hospitality and agritourism industry for over 180 representatives from 65 agritourism enterprises, of which 30 from Georgia, 20 from Armenia, and 15 from Azerbaijan, including Sheki Friends Guest House. Sheki Friends Guest House is a small family-friendly guesthouse in Northwest Azerbaijan where travelers are offered culinary masterclasses in traditional Azerbaijanian cuisine and guided tours of Sheki, a beautiful forest town in the Great Caucasus Mountains. Orkhan Aliyev, founder of Sheki Friends Guest House found that “trainings were very beneficial for my work and helped me to categorize the services and offer travelers a comfortable and cozy place to stay. I believe that by involving rural residents in the process of running small farms and creating rural natural products, we are not just developing the village, but also raising the level of agriculture, education, food culture and life in general!” In addition to trainings, GFA supported Sheki Friends Guest House to register to the Agrograte.world portal.
Another agritourism enterprise registered on Agrogate.world is Armenian Machanents House, a small family-run agritourism enterprise founded in 2010 in Etchmiazdzin, Armenia. They organize masterclasses on pottery making and carpet making, while learning about the history of Armenian rugs and pottery. Sos Saroyan, founder of Machanents Art House said that the platform “is an advantageous tool for promotion and booking visits for local tourists and foreigners. It unites agritourism enterprises from South Caucasus region and is available to customers from all over the world. Due to this digitalized approach, the platform can be the source of additional tourists and consequently additional income to our enterprise.”
To further promote agritourism opportunities, 10 Georgian agritourism enterprises filmed “Agro Stop” promotional videos, showcasing to tourists how to plan low budget trips to rural areas. The promotional videos are featured on the Agrogate portal, and have been shared on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and TripAdvisor. Idoidze Ranch, located in Georgia, is one of the agritourism enterprises featured in the Agro Stop promotional video. Travelers can book their stays in one of the cottages or stay in their own tents and enjoy marvelous views of the Caucasus mountains. In addition, Idoidze Ranch offers tourists a large variety of activities such as bicycle tours, horseback riding, participating in grape, cherry, and plum growing, winetasting, and masterclasses on traditional Tushetian dishes.
Sulkhan Idiodze, founder of Idiodze Ranch, said that the number of visitors to the ranch increased by 20% after publishing the video, which has reached over 200,000 views on the Facebook and has been shared hundreds of times. Sulkhan said, “Filming the Agro Stop video was an extraordinary experience for me. The video not only helped me to promote my agritourism enterprise, but also supported me in developing an effective communication and marketing strategy. Tourists were interested to experience and enjoy the same journey depicted in the video. Consequently, the number of guests has increased dramatically. In the future, we plan to increase our wine production and offer even more services to our guests.”
Investment in the digital infrastructure of the agritourism industry in the South Caucasus provides the sector with the tools needed to attract tourists from the region and around the world.
