According to The FINANCIAL, country specific information provided by some of the foreign embassies in Georgia is comprised of outrageous warnings that have long been a stumbling block for tourism development in Georgia.  

Some of them report a threat from terrorism in Georgia. The crime situation report by Overseas Security Advisory Council updated in 2010 is especially critical of Georgia. Such travel advice does allegedly have a negative impact on tourism development in Georgia,” said representatives of the Georgian Government.

The pieces of travel advice are meant for tourists on the verge of deciding whether to visit a particular country or not, taking into account all personal security issues, et cetera.

Almost all of the embassies in interviews with The FINANCIAL declared that the country specific information data is based upon information received through local law enforcement, local media, and reports from country citizen victims of crime. Although there are some notes on which they don’t wish to comment, which is in fact of crucial importance, they are hampering the attraction of tourists to Georgia.

“There is an underlying threat from terrorism in Georgia. Attacks could be indiscriminate, including in places frequented by expatriates and foreign travellers,” this is an excerpt from the official website of the UK Embassy in Georgia (updated on 19 July 2010).

The notion of terrorism remains unanswered by the UK Embassy, denying to give comment to The FINANCIAL on the issue.

“There are incidents of residential break-ins, car theft, petty theft and robbery and occasionally armed crime throughout Georgia,” says the report.

UK Embassy experts included Tbilisi ’s most prestigious district Vake and almost all of the main tourist areas of Tbilisi in the most “dangerous” areas.

“In Tbilisi you should take precautions when visiting tourist areas and areas frequented by foreigners, such as Vake, Saburtalo and the bar area of Perovskaya near Republic Square. You should not walk alone in the Narikala Fortress and Mother Georgia area of Tbilisi as a number of tourists have been mugged there,” says the report.

“If possible avoid driving at night. Many roads are badly lit and are of poor quality. Driving conditions are stressful and road markings and the right of way can be very confusing;”

“Travel advice is provided for British nationals to make decisions about their own safety. It is updated regularly and the content is not motivated by economics or politics. In common with what we produce for other countries, the travel advice for Georgia includes guidance on sensible precautions that should be followed when visiting anywhere unfamiliar,” said Sophiko Katsarava, Communications/Projects Manager at the British Embassy, Tbilisi .

As she adds, travel advice is revised and re-issued at least every 3 months and can be updated during a developing crisis. They are collated using information from various sources, including our embassies, and are based on objective assessment of the risks to British nationals.

The US Embassy also actively warns US citizens about the probable threats while visiting Georgia, like as follows (updated on July 02, 2010):

“Crime remains a particularly serious issue in Tbilisi , where criminal activity against foreigners remains at levels disproportionate to metropolitan areas in Europe and the United States;

“Petty theft is also a problem on the Tbilisi metro system and in “marshrutkas,” minivans used for public transport. American citizens are advised to use personal vehicles or taxis from established companies that carry passengers door-to-door.”

“American travellers should vary times and routes, especially from places of residence to work locations; The lack of lighting in public places, even when electricity is available, heightens your vulnerability to crime,” says the US Embassy.

As The FINANCIAL was told by the US Embassy, the US Government has a policy to provide travel information to US citizens travelling to any country in the world.

“A Country Specific Information sheet is meant to inform travellers, specifically US citizens, about relevant travel information, including potential risks to personal safety and security, including exposure to crime,” said Michael Harvey, Information Officer at the US Embassy.

German and French embassies have relatively trouble free advice. Italy’s report is more positive too. “In Tbilisi , there are occasional reports of robbery. Special attention should be favoured by foreigners in districts such as Vake, Vera and Saburtalo and parks and recreation areas. Aggressive drivers do increase the risk of driving accidents in Georgia,” says the report by the German Embassy.

“We want to underline that tourists do take into account whatever travel advice we provide for them, sometimes even discouraging notions,” commented the representative of the German Embassy.

“In fact Germany as the second largest donor country in terms of its scale, is interested in contributing to the growth of the number of tourists willing to travel to Georgia and if we take the latest figures about German tourists visiting Georgia, they’ve increased significantly despite such warnings that sometimes act as stumbling blocks to tourist inflow in the country,” declared the German Embassy to The FINANCIAL.

As Mr. Archil Kekelia, Deputy Minister of Economic and Sustainable Development of Georgia says, “this sort of travel advice does allegedly have a negative impact on tourism development in Georgia. The effect is most evident when it comes to individuals travelling alone.”

“Notwithstanding the fact that most foreign countries have taken Georgia out of their list of most dangerous countries, the problem remains unresolved as country information doesn’t get updated regularly,” said Kekelia.

“I can assure you that tourists in Georgia feel very safe, the latest survey demonstrating that most of them are thankful for the security/safety conditions in the country acts as proof of that,” he claimed.

“We together with the Georgian Foreign Affairs office through diplomatic connections/channels are actively working in order to get rid of any oblique negative statements about Georgia as a country. Therefore we always ask them to retract all not-justified information on the web, albeit it takes time.”

“We have had several successes in this regard, for example Japan having taken Georgia out of its dangerous/hazardous countries’ list. And since then in 2010 we’ve seen 108% growth in the number of Japanese tourists travelling to Georgia, while the overall number of international tourists has exceeded 1 million which is really a record number, showing 37% growth this year.”

“In addition the Tourism and Resorts Department frequently arranges press tours for world leading travel agencies and media representatives, which thereafter are published as very complementary articles, in which safety standards are directly stated as the first priority of the country and that tourists can feel safe to travel to Georgia,” said Archil Kekelia in an interview with The FINANCIAL.

You can contact author at : k.kalandadze (at) finchannel.com

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