Abstract
The chapter gives the example of different countries, how the development of tourism increased the standard of living of the local population and transformed poor rural settlements into luxurious and prestigious resorts. The development of tourism in the mountainous regions of Georgia has great potential, which is caused by the variety of tourist resources. Economic revitalization of mountainous regions becomes possible through tourism. Based on the tourism development trends of the last five years, the number of tourists flowing in the highland regions has increased significantly, which has increased the demand for access to various economic activities. Local residents have started to convert their houses into guesthouses, and some have started to engage in the adjacent tourism sectors.
TopIntroduction
The rapid development of tourism played an important role in the formation of the economic profile of the regions of the world, including Georgia. The mountainous regions were particularly affected. Based on the data from the World Tourism Organization, the development of mountainous regions is significantly dependent on tourism. The chapter shows that local people have a limited understanding of inclusion in the tourism supply chain. The mountain people faced agricultural difficulties by engaging in tourism industry sectors as an “easier” source of income, however, the interest shown by tourists in local natural products encouraged the local tourism industry sector to take advantage and develop local agriculture and other industries, which significantly increased the number new clients in the form of tourists (Rama et al., 2019).
During the last 10-15 years in the mountainous regions of Georgia, the integration of various industries in the tourism sector is especially noticeable, which is supported by the results of our research. As for the peripheral settlements of the municipalities, economic development is mainly oriented towards tourism, but due to the tourism market’s demand, they supported the development of related industries - agriculture and other households, which quickly integrated into tourism to entertain tourists with their products amid shortages of agricultural products in the municipality (Perlik, 2019).
The relevance of the topic is: determining the socio-economic situation of mountain regions through tourism, as well as the economic strengthening of other related areas through the development of tourism.
In this regard, we conducted a study of the tourism supply network and the needs of stakeholders.
The research aims to study the development of tourism in the mountainous regions of Georgia, to identify its role in the economic characteristics of mountainous regions, and also to study the need to identify the possibility of developing related industries in tourism.
TopLiterature Review
Many scientists have devoted scientific works to studying the economic aspects of tourism development in mountainous regions, where relevant conclusions and recommendations were presented. Among them, we can highlight the approaches of the World Tourism Organization. Since, tourism destinations in mountainous regions are defined by the UNWTO (World Tourism Organization) as being located in a defined and limited geographical area, such as hills or mountains, with distinctive features and attributes, landscape, topography, climate, biodiversity (flora and fauna), providing recreation and sports a wide range of activities. According to the analysis of WTO, mountain tourism has a high potential to stimulate local economic growth and social change due to its complementarity with other economic activities, its contribution to GDP and job creation, and its capacity to promote time (combat seasonality) and on a wider scale (WTO, 2023). Nowadays, in an urbanized world, the development of mountain tourism is necessary for the development of the economic and ecological conditions of regions and countries. Mountainous areas cover 22% of the Earth's land surface with 13% of the global population, and another 14% live in their immediate vicinity. According to recent studies, mountain regions are a key location for tourism and recreation; some include major cities as well (Richins & Hull, 2016).
Key Terms in this Chapter
Hotel: A collective means of accommodation, which provides accommodation, food and other services for tourists and tourists.
Regional Development: Represents the process of formation and implementation of a balanced and sustainable development policy of the country and its territories, which is focused on using the social, economic and resource potential of the country and its territories to raise the standard of living of the population.
Resort: A place where the necessary infrastructure for resort activities is located.
Mountain Law: This provides for investment stimulation and socio-economic development of high mountain regions.
Highland Regions: A settlement located at or above 1,500 meters above sea level is considered.
Tourist Resources: A combination of natural, historical-cultural, cognitive and social-household resources and existing infrastructure on the territory of Georgia, which meets the needs of tourists.
Tourism Supply Chain: A combination that includes all the suppliers of goods and services involved in the supply of tourism products to consumers.
Agrotourism: This is carried out on a farm and includes receiving tourists, feeding them, introducing them to rural life, culture, local traditions and attractions, attracting tourists to agricultural activities, providing them with locally produced agricultural products and conducting other activities related to tourism and agriculture.