A webinar on the topic: The Crisis Related to Covid-19 in Tourism and Ways to Deal with It was organized by Georgian National Tourism Administration on May 16.
Giorgi Bregadze, Head of the Research and Planning Department at the Georgian National Tourism Administration, moderated the webinar. He admitted that the webinar will facilitate the involvement of academics and students in tourism policy development and that this involvement will be even more significant in times of crisis, where academia can play an important role.
The webinar started with Giorgi Bregadz’s presentation on the topic: Expectations of International Experts in the Tourism Sector and their Possible Consequences for Georgia, and then continued with thematic panels: Tourism Value Chain, Tourism Products, Education in Tourism.
It is noteworthy that Lali Mikeladze, Associate Professor, Supervisor of Undergraduate Program in Tourism at Caucasus International University participated in the webinar among the representatives of 14 different Georgian universities. She made a presentation together with the students in the panel – Education in Tourism under the auspices of CIU Tourism Laboratory.
Lali Mikeladze placed emphasis on the role of quality education in the field of tourism and noted that education is not only a guarantee of success for a particular person but also a factor in the success of the country. “Education in the field of tourism can increase innovation and create new knowledge, and therefore new technologies that will ultimately contribute to the growth of the economy in the country,” she stated, referring to the role of universities in education.
In the presentation – Stay at Home, Stay in Georgia! - Lali Mikeladze introduced the ideas of Caucasus International University students - Host Village 1 + 1; Green Tent / Student Camp; Student Support for the Tourism Business.
The presentation states that people in our country and in the world will have severe socioeconomic and psychological problems due to the pandemic, so offering tourism services to them should be safe, reliable, and cheap. And here the students found a solution in domestic tourism, specifically in rural tourism. According to the idea, in the villages in the green zone, one family hosts one family from the city. Tourism companies will also be actively involved in this.
The idea of the Green Tent encourages students to help the rural population with agricultural or household chores, cleaning the area around the camp, and protecting natural resources.
According to the idea of student support, students are ready to work in low- and middle-level positions in hotels without remuneration. In this case, the business will save money, and students will gain the necessary experience for them.
It should be noted that the webinar organized by the Georgian National Tourism Administration has provoked great interest in the academic field and society.
The full recording of the webinar is available on the following link below: link
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