HEALTH AND MEDICAL TOURISM IN GEORGIA
N.İ.Pavliashvili, M.A.Tutberidze
Abstract. Georgia has been known for its spa resorts and mineral water facilities since the time immemorial. Combined with the mild climate, they made the country a center of spa life, its heyday in the 1980s. The crises of the 1990s took its toll on tourism and on health and medicinal tourism in particular. The turn of the century saw its revival, though under very different conditions: many resorts lost their former rank; hotels (instead of health care institutions) provide accommodation; the range of medical services provided expanded, resorts became multifunctional, and vast majority of guests are the locals inadequate infrastructure (accommodation, facilities, service, transportation), lack of competent staff, insufficient R&D adversely affect tourism in Georgia, particularly health tourism. Comprehensive developmental strategy could be the answer (to the existing challenges), and, mainly, passing of a new bill on tourism, regulating certification and licensing.
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