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Compiled by Messenger Staff
Wednesday, October 6
Winter season in Adjara

The Department of Tourism and Resorts is preparing for the approaching winter season, Rezonansi writes. According to the head of the Tourism Department Maia Sidamonidze some projects are underway which will work to attract tourists during Georgia’s winter season. Emphasis will be made on the country’s tourism development. At this stage major problems holding back tourism include high prices and service levels.

The Tourism Department says that it expects prices to increase dramatically over the winter season; however they say that the market will balance the prices.

Sidamonidze says that Georgia expects twice the number of tourists this year compared to the last, and they will have convenient and comfortable environment. Sidamonidze also encourages tourism companies to prepare packages specifically tempting for European customers.

A priority this winter will be Adjara and its mountainous resorts. Several projects are planned in this regard and it is hoped hundreds of visitors will flock to the region.



Canadian court report on Kumaritashvili’s death

A “relative lack of experience” played a role in the death of the Georgian luger who died during a training run before the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, according to the coroner’s report says, 24 Hours writes.

The document says Nodar Kumaritashvili, 21, died immediately when he smashed into a steel pole after flipping his sled at the Whistler Sliding Centre.

The report, issued 235 days after the crash, calls the death accidental.

Mr. Kumaritashvili hit the unpadded pillar at 90mph (145kph).

“The relative lack of experience Mr. Kumaritashvili had on this challenging track set a backdrop for the incident and was a significant disadvantage, as far as safety was concerned, for the athlete entering the high pressure environment of the Olympic Games,” said coroner Tom Pawlowski in his report.

Mr. Pawlowski also wrote in his report that a letter written by International Loge Federation (FIL) President Josef Fend said the newly built Whistler track “was not supplied as ordered”.

But Mr. Find's letter did not go as far as to ask the Vancouver Olympics officials to investigate track speeds for the Olympic Games.

The British Columbia Coroners’ Service recommended “a comprehensive safety audit of the Whistler track” and is asking governing bodies to more thoroughly examine the design, construction and certification of loge, bobsled and skeleton tracks.

No remaining investigations are scheduled into the crash, which took place on 12 February.

Mr. Kumaritashvili’s sled struck the inside of the track’s last turn during his sixth and final training run, sending his body into the air and over a concrete wall.

Kumaritashvili died during a morning training run on February 12, 2010. The sled was travelling at 137 kilometres per hour when Kumaritashvili first slammed into the ice wall, then a wooden wall at the top of the track and finally into a metal post at the edge of the track.