WORLD SCIENCE ISSN 2413-1032 44 № 1(29), Vol.4, January 2018 http://ws-conference.com/ TOURISM AND RECREATION CURRENT SITUATION AND PROSPECTS OF GUESTHOUSE BUSINESS IN BATUMI (GEORGIA) Teona Edzgveradze Georgia, Tbilisi, Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University Abstract. A tourism has been a priority field of Georgian economy for many years. Government has conducted many activities for its stimulation. Georgia is one of the best destinations for tourism and it has many offers for visitors, including adorable nature, diverse landscapes, ridge of Caucasus, subtropical zone of Black Sea, rivers, waterfalls, cities carved in rocks, resorts, mineral waters, historical monuments, cities, settlements. In addition, traditional Georgian hospitality and famous Georgian cuisine transforms this country to a touristic one. 12 Keywords: Tourism, guesthouses, research, reality, prospect. Introduction. An importance of guesthouses in the modern tourism has grown significantly in recent years. For foreign visitors such hotels are often more attractive and demanded than so-called ―high class‖ hotels. Georgia, as the developing country, tries not to lag behind the modernity and satisfy demands of the world tourism. We have quite big selection of guesthouses, but only few of them satisfy the demands of tourists. In the recent period field of services has been developed and number of guesthouses (as well as accompanying problems) has significantly grown. Scientific Aim. Therefore, we decided to study how developed is this business in Georgia, particularly in Batumi and reveal a complete picture in this field. What are the problems that foreign and Georgian tourists face, when they interact with hotels and what are the ways for solution of these problems? Does the state need to conduct certain activities for support of this business? Batumi is Georgian tourism center and so we decided to participate in a study of this city. Here a summer season is the most popular and number of tourists reaches its peak on this season. Today center of Batumi is similar to western European cities with its decorated streets, fountains and noisy shops. In the nights the city is richly illuminated and the lights of coastal area are also dazzling. Batumi‘s population is hospitable and friendly. Everyone is ready to help. Locals call Batumi ―city of love‖ and there many monuments about this topic in a promenade. 3 There are many brand hotels in Batumi and majority of them is almost full all the time. Local hotels do not lag behind and host Georgian or foreign tourists during the summer. We were quite interested to understand, whether family business is developed or not in tourism zone and if there is demand from tourists. Also we wanted to reveal who were the main consumers of this business and did it have perspective of development. Eventually we selected this resort for observation and stayed there for certain period of time. Results. We interviewed 200 visitors in Batumi, including Georgians and foreigners on the basis of selection. For this purpose we prepared Georgian and English questionnaire, because we wanted to understand opinions of not only Georgian, but also foreign visitors. As regards to the age groups, 10 persons were from the age group below 18, 79 – from the age group 18-30, 55 – from the age group 30-45, 39 – from the age group 45-60 and 17 – from the age group above 60. Employment statuses were the following: 70 – employed, 7 – self-employed/owner of a business, 46 – unemployed, 61 – student, 16 – pensioner. 1 http://forbes.ge/blog/137/Sida-turizmi-saqarTveloSi 2 https://pirveli4ever.wordpress.com/2010/06/23/ %E1 %83 %A2 %E1 %83 %A3 %E1 %83 %A0 %E1 %83 %98 %E1 %83 %96 %E1 %83 %9B %E1 %83 %98 %E1 %83 %A1- %E1 %83 %92 %E1 %83 %90 %E1 %83 %9C %E1 %83 %95 %E1 %83 %98 %E1 %83 %97 %E1 %83 %90 %E1 %83 % A0 %E1 %83 %94 %E1 %83 %91 %E1 %83 %98 %E1 %83 %A1- %E1 %83 %9E %E1 %83 %94/ 3 http://mardihouse.ge/ge/batumi