Only one fifth of guides in Tbilisi tours are Georgians

From June 2026, the law on the certification of guides will come into force, but what exactly this news will change for the sector, for travel companies, is not yet known.

Alexander Giorgidze, the founder of the travel company AG TRAVEL & ADVENTUR, speaking on Radio Kommersant, states that when it comes to voluntary certification, if the certificate does not give the guide a tangible advantage, many of them simply will not do it.

"I know certified guides, but their competence, to put it mildly, is below zero, among them I am talking about Georgians. At the same time, I also know guides who do not have a certificate, but they are very cool. There are many issues that need to be clarified and said. We must know what lies ahead," said Aleksandre Giorgidze.

Aleksandre Giorgidze believes that there are many things that need to be changed. Among them, the law must provide that a foreigner who decides to work in the tourism sector of Georgia has the appropriate rights A must accept. At the same time, Giorgidze welcomes that the operator should be registered as a tax payer, which is not the case at this stage, and there are thousands of pages on social networks that sell tours, but no one pays anything anywhere.

"If before there were rarely and a small number of foreign guides and drivers, probably not exceeding 10%, now their share has increased considerably. According to my personal observation, in January, during Tbilisi tours, I met an average of 15 groups per day, among them 2-3 were Georgian citizens, or about one fifth, the rest were Russians, Hindus, Turks, Chinese, Thais. This is a rather difficult situation.

As for the competence of the guides, it is a bit complicated when it comes to certification, because there are several associations of guides that issue the certificate, and there are also a dozen private tour companies that can also issue the certificate. If it is not determined what criteria the guide should meet and what it should be, the certificate It will just be symbolic, as there are many people with two diplomas, but they do not have proper knowledge", - says Aleksandre Giorgidze.

commersant.ge