State’s Role in Tourism Development

Nicko Kvaratskhelia, Tbilisi Economic Relations State University, professor of tourism direction

The perception of state’s role, responsibility and functions is not homogeneous by Georgian society, and sometimes is even radically different.

The part of population was confused by the expectations that they had 17-18 years ago — in the time of formation Georgia’s Independent State and what they received during the passed history as the ongoing events.
During the Communist Regime society used to live in a kind of state, that “made itself” to guarantee the full social protection of its citizens. This was expressed in maintaining dwelling, healthcare, and education of every member of society. Nowadays each person should care for himself, his family and care even for the state. It is also worth mentioning that the particular group of people and sometimes even the state officials have no idea, about the functions left for the state, and how it influences the development of this or that sphere.
In Georgia tourism is officially declared as a priority direction. In recent years the dynamic development of this sphere is too vigilant. Higher are the indexes of the last three years in this sphere. Independent Georgia first approached the possibility of hosting one million tourists per year; this fact could be declared as a great success in the existing conditions of infrastructure.
It’s also the fact that in case of full realization of the tourism potential, country can receive 5-6 million tourists per year. Achieving such kind of success is only possible in case of state assistance and with the eradication of existing negative tendencies. What is meant under the negative tendencies? It is possible to list many reasons, but now we will take into consideration three main of them:
– In the conditions of Georgia’s growing market, tourism still does not appear to be the kind of sphere, which will manage to become the source of supplementing country’s budget and the currency resources.
– In the creation of new working places in tourism sphere Georgia lags behind from foreign analogies.
– The low level of service in Georgia does not coincide with the prices. These prices appear to be extremely high for the local citizens.
It is worth pointing out the following question: What kind of role state can play in the development of tourism? In order to give a full answer to this question, we can use in practice widely approved forms of influences that helped the countries to develop tourism sphere. In order to display clearly the state’s role in tourism, let’s take as a main thesis sphere’s development’s determinants, group them into blocks and correspondingly determine the forms of influences used by the state, for the development of this field. For the successful functioning of the tourism sphere it is necessary:
1. To take special care of the tourist product’s variety, quality and improvement..
2. To make the successful representation of the product on International Tourism Market.
3. Improvement of the service level.
4. To guarantee the sphere’s legislative aspect
5. Leading creative staff-educational policy in tourism sphere.
In the content of the first block the term “Variety of tourist product“ may arise the difference of opinions. As for the idea of the tourist product’s improvement, it should not be arguable. Should the tourist product be various? Or is it better to choose, as the main strategy, exporting only the mass tourist product, or operate according to the principle: “work narrowly and deeply“. In most cases the mass market operators are busy resting on the seaside and make huge progress from this.Moreover, introduction of different tourist forms may cause the disperse of the investment.But in this case the focal principle should be the country’s rich tourist potential. Our country has sea, mountains, rich material and spiritual culture, which should accordingly be reflected in the tourist product. So the richness of Georgian tourist product is caused by objective reasons and the inevitability of its realization should not raise any kind of doubt. Lets discuss separately, in what kind of form the state have to participate in the fulfilment of each block:
1. Caring about the tourist product’s variety, quality and improvement:
– Moving from the declared tourism sphere priority to the direct action. Specifically, maintaining the action plan and the transformation of the state structures for the fulfillment of this problem;
– Maintenance and the fulfillment of the tourism development state plan;
– Establishment of the regional tourism priorities;
– Accomplishment of the Georgia’s regional tourism development, formation and the development of tourism centers;
– Tourism’s strong informational and propagandist backing from the state side (tourist reference books, maps, posters, road finders, printed and electronic editions and etc.) strong informational bank for the potential investors;
– Road and transport infrastructure regulation;
– Special event planning on seasonal and mass tourism environment, for the purpose of softening its negative influence;
2. Representation the product on International Tourist Market:
– Opening of Georgian representatives in abroad and the accomplishment of the image making internet portals. (Tour planning web pages)
– Representation of the Georgian tourist product on International Tourist Market, maintaining the participation of Georgian Tourist Firms in International Tourism Fairs;
– Ensuring the participation of non governmental, educational and research organizations in the International Tourism Fairs;
– Maintaining the non commercial state advertisement;
– Operating in the International Supranational Organizations, for the purpose of lobbing the arrangement of important congresses, summits and conferences in the country;
– Ensuring to organize international conferences, symposiums, sporting competitions and meetings in the country;
3. Improvement of the service level:
– Defending the interests of tourist service consumers and producers;
– Raising the quality of tourists’ security. Special defense of tourist centers;
– To care for the protection of tourism standards. Harmonization of the above mentioned standards towards to International Standards;
– Realization of state programs for the staff operating in the peripheries, with the help of training courses;
4. Guaranteeing the field’s legislative aspect:
– Guaranteeing the field’s legislative aspect is reflected in the management of those law and law subordinate acts, that regulate touristy activities and implies the acceptance and the realization of modern standards.
– Working out and realization of State’s special aimed plans. (e.g. Inner tourism development, foreign tourists bringing, preparing tourism specialists, developing tourism infrastructure plans, so on.)
– Investment bringing in the field and creation of profitable investment environment for the investors.
– Leading protectionist policy towards enterprises operating in tourism sphere.
– Liberalization of Fiscal Policy in the tourism sphere;
– Delivering of state grants, scholarships, credits, guarantees, subsidies, bonuses to the enterprises operating in tourism business;

5. Creative staff- educational policy in tourism sphere:
– Establishment of educational-expertise standards and leading them into real life;
– Organizing national competitions for the purpose of introduction and generalization of innovative approaches in the tourism sphere;
– Realization and creation of special State programs for the tourist centers; Preserving the National Heritage by foreseeing the steady development;
– Financing the marketing and other kind of researches in the tourism sphere; organizing the market monitoring; realization of sector statistics; giving particular recommendations to the private sector, by foreseeing the global and local tendencies;
In that way the enumeration is quite numerous and may be we can argue for the necessity of each one, or argue for the correctness of charging them to the state, but it is out of discussion that everything these needs to be done. Also we should take into consideration that the tourism policy is multilateral phenomenon, which has numerous aspects. We point out the following aspects:
Tourism policy, as a common political problem, implies the creation of necessary conditions for tourism development by the state, in order to ensure the tourists secure and free movement; the purpose of the tourism politics is to open the state’s borders to foreigners and receive the possible number of them without distinction of their origin.
Tourism politics as an environmental protection problem. The growing number of tourists raises the question of rational use of resources to the state; the necessity of raising ecological perception among citizens becomes a very important problem, protection of environment from pollution. Travelers must accomplice preservation of the nature. Tourism is an ecological problem. Tourism exists with the natures, landscape’s and culture’s attraction. Tourism has to take care of improving ecological conditions and strict protection of the legislation against pollution. It is necessary to establish, among the citizens of the tourism countries, ecological ideology.
Tourism policy as a social political problem. Traveling and the rest is the best way to accumulate positive energy and the strength, which a man have spent during the year, it is also the best way to improve the health. The state’s aim is to make it affordable for everyone. So, as we can see, tourism acquires the social sense and due to this fact, in socially oriented countries more conditions exist for humans rest. Traveling and rest are best showers of citizen’s standard and the quality of living. A country must do everything to make the tourism and rest affordable for the members of society’s each level, everyone should manage to rehabilitate forces with the help of rest and tourism.
Tourism and traveling as an economic phenomenon: for the traveling country international tourism brings important economic profit. Tourism becomes country’s economic situation’s improving factor, international tourism belongs to the kind of export field, when recipient country’s economy becomes dependent on foreign economy, specifically, the world service trade influences on the national level the service delivery.
Subsequently the tourism politics has its subsequent aims:
Tourism development on the regional level. In Georgia tourism infrastructure is concentrated on several main points. These are: Tbilisi, Batumi, Gudauri and Bakuriani. There still does not exist the needful infrastructure for development, no working plan with specified term and sum of money. Though not even above mentioned resorts have the infrastructure that satisfies the International Standards. For example, in Tbilisi, still does not operate informational center, which should have to operate not only in the center of the capital city, but also in transport knots: airports, railway stations, bus terminals. To whom or where a transit tourist should ask for a tourist service is not still clear. Also, Tbilisi tourism and cultural development concept can not stand any kind of critics; this concept is not reflecting the innovative approaches like Leipzig, St-Petersburg and other cities concepts have.
From the viewpoint of tourism, in famous or other less famous regions, exist very little field’s accomplishing conditions. In spite of the fact tourists like such kind of less traveled places and strive for them. In world tourists attract ecologically clean places, where quietness and mild comfort interchange. Rapid globalization enables the equipment of the provinces with modern technologies, which are the preterm for tourism development. One more condition for the tourism development in regions is the transport infrastructure. For regions tourism is the most important mea of solving socio-economic problems. Very often in regions, for the popularization of their own historical heritage innovative and creative approaches are used.
In regions and provinces for tourism development are interested not only tourist organizations, but also local transport, agricultural, trade, bank, cultural and communal service units. With the help of tourism the recipient region becomes popular, grows its income, appears new working places and what is the most important, the new means and forms of business asre strengthened in this territory.
It is the duty of the state to prepare and realize state programs foreseeing regions interests. It would be desirable to be reflected in the state’s programs and aims the following issues:
– Creation of modern tourist product, that would correspond to the world market demands;
– Creation of tourist receiving base center, around which would happen the concentration of tourist infrastructure and social and economical problem solving, with the assistance of the governing offices.
– Above mentioned bases should enable the growth of the tourist flows, foreseeing of norms under the strategic plan resolution.
– Realization of the supporting events and mechanisms for regional tourist centers.
– Attract investments fro the creation of base tourist centers.
– Supporting the export of regional tourist product the world tourist market.
– To create strong informational centers inthe regional base centers, which would be able to guarantee the tourists with informations, placing of them in hotels, organizing excursions, attracting touris agencies for extra service;
– To produce advertising campaigns for raising the country’s image, to inform tourists about infrastructure, living issues, sightseeings, history and culture with advertising-informational materials;
– Preparing and trainingof the tourist staff;
The task of complex reconstruction of historical cities must be solved by the full protection of the steady development principles and by creation of reconstruction model, which methodology would be useful for other regions. Even in 1992 in Rio-de-Janero was accepted “Agenda for the 21st century“ which was accepted by all over the world. On the base of this document with the initiative of the European Union was started the working out of the model “Agenda 21“. Due to this important projects, which are about the environmental organizing issues, must ensure the correspondence with the “Agenda 21“. European scientists created a lot of examples in tourism sphere, where they generalized the principles of the steady development of tourism for the rest of the world. The noted recomendations are represented in the scheme below.
With the planning of the activities in the base tourist centres recommendations should also be foreseen, which were worked out by the experts of the World Tourist Organization.(WTO)
International Tourism Policy
In spite of the fact, that the tourism is the international phenomenon,still there exists few Internatioanl Normative Acts that regulate international tourism politics.Leading united policy in International Tourism is hampered by the existing differences between countries (tourist and non tourist countries), also the difference of countries’ domestic politics and approaches towards tourism and social policy causes clash of interests.
Changing state policy makes important impact on the tourist sphere. It’s obvious, because the politicians choose as priorities and orientations in policy and economy,as the ways of their implementation. The vivid example of the above mentioned fact is the Sweden, where in 1976-1994 socialists twice came to the power.
They established the rule of financing of spendings in the tourism field, from the state budget, that increased the number of tourist flow in Sweden. But in 19991-1994, when the government changed with it changed the policy and the responsibility for the „ Image of Sweden“ was imposed not on state organ, but on private sector, which,as it was expected reduced the financing and abolished the representatives abroad.
As a result the number of foreign tourists decreased in Sweden. From 1995, after the socialists coming to power for the second time, the compromise was reached between private sector and the state,and the government restarted financing promotion campaign, with the aim of strengthening country’s image.
English scientist Halls gives an example, of how aimed development of tourism in Great Britain has a positive influence on society. It is that case when the state is srongly interested in the development of this field and consideres it as the part of social policy. According to the scientist’s viewpoint, well-wisher factors are:
1. Improvement of fiscal balance and monetary reserves with the attraction of foreign tourists to the country. Also, increase of domestic tourist’s number and to grow their interest to rest inside the country, in order to flow less money outside.
2. Assisting the development of tourism on regional level.
3. Diversification of National Economy.
4. The increase of public income through the taxes and gatherings.
5. The increase of population’s income.
6. Creation (appearance) of new working places.
The number of International Organizations is kept with the issues of International Tourism. Their differentiation happens through four main parts. This is well displayed in the scheme below. According to this classification the organizations are divided to Supranational (UN, EU), United Nations specialized, also International non-governmental and International Trade Unions:
European Union’s domestic tourism market: from 1993, when European Union’s domestic market was created, the important successes were reached, that was caused by collaboration and leading of the united policy. European Union’s united policy is mainly reflected in the following:
– Liberalization of air carriers (de regulation)
– Harmonization and approachment of tourism legislation
– One year licensing rule establishment for the tourist firms.
– Definition of addmition conditions in IATA’s(International Transport Aviation Association) agencies.
– Creation of defensive mechanism for customer’s monetary funds
– Creation of customer’s complaints Arbitrate.
– Imposing responsibilities on tourist firms for the package-tours.
– Abolishment of free rights of changes on package tours prices.
– International Concentration of tourism economy
– International system of reserve.
Also the changes occurred in the related and partner fields of the tourism:
– The united European Monetary System was created
– VAT- like system was set in the member states.
– United quality standards were established.
– Common labor market was created.
– Free movement of tourists was legalized.
– Free creation and registration of enterprises became possible.
It is of great importance for our country, which aims to integrate into Common European Family to consider above mentioned activities. It is necessary to systemize them according to the significance and date of accomplishment. Most of them are to be done.
More exactly, implementation of the agenda should be written out under strict state schedule. It is most important “to harmonize and approximate tourism legislation towards European legislation”, that implies as general laws, also hundreds of subordinate acts regulating relationships in the tourism sphere and support fulfillment of standards.
It is simply obvious, that harmonization of Georgian legislation of Common Licensing rule and landing conditions in IATA agencies should happen soon. It will support on the one hand, recognition of tourist firms by foreign embassies, which do not consider them legal, on the other hand hasten their integration with the external world (till today the relationship of foreign tour operators with Georgian firms is impeded by the lack of licenses and certificates). Among the first place objectives we should examine the liberalization of Air Transition (deregulation). Simultaneously should be created defensive mechanism for customer’s monetary funds, customer’s complaints Arbitrate, responsibilities on tourist firms for the package-tours and so on.
So, the international practice and the ongoing situation in our country demands, that the state realize its role and place on every level in developing this important field and in this way plan and fulfill corresponding arrangements.