Georgia has more than 1,200 hotels

“Georgia has more than 1,200 hotels, and 41 percent of them were put into operation in the last three years under the current Government,” First Vice-Premier and Minister of Economics Dimitri Kumsishvili has stated.

He stressed that business is easily conducted in Georgia; investments are put in the country and there is a coherent tourism development strategy, which guarantees that the number of visitors will increase from 6 to 11 million in Georgia.

Tourism was the direction which was in focus of the previous United National Movement (UNM) authorities as well.

However, many business representatives were vocal especially after the October 2012 elections, when the current ruling Georgian Dream defeated the nine-year rule of the UNM, to say they had been under pressure from the UNM government.

Local NGOs and business representatives said the previous leadership demanded money from businesspeople for various projects – including for election purposes - which in many cases led to their bankruptcy.

The process was especially painful for small and medium-sized businesses, which were one of the important sources for income in the economy and the Georgian population.

Today, the number of small and medium sized businesses in the Georgian economy is still low and needs serious assistance to gain strength.

Since Georgia is becoming more and more popular amongst tourists, the country requires a large number of hotels.

However, many Georgian hotels are rated with four or five stars and are thus quite expensive, even more expensive than in some other popular tourist locations abroad.

Georgia needs more hostels and low cost hotels, as many tourists wish to spend less on accommodation and instead view as many places as possible.

In this regard, loans with low interest rates or with special conditions can play a positive role, as locals will be able to take them and construct family guest houses, hostels or low cost hotels for domestic and foreign visitors which will also be more affordable.