Exchange Provides Hotelier with Knowledge to Expand
Gogi Gogitidze, the owner of a small hotel in the seaside town of Kobuleti, Georgia credits USAID’s Community Connections (CC) Exchange Program with increasing the scope of his business. Together with other tourism professionals from the Adjara region, Gogitidze spent three weeks in Reno, Nevada, where he learned about best practices for tourism development from American experts. Topics such as modern service methods, facility development, and organizational management issues, combined with the opportunity to see his American colleagues’ achievements in tourism, gave him several ideas on how to improve his hotel back in Georgia.
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Gogi Gogitidze stands in front of his renovated hotel and the new summer garden bar which he opened after his professional exchange
Photo Credit: Community Connections Program |
After completing of the program, Gogitidze understood that the best way to make money as an entrepreneur is to invest. He took out a large loan from a bank and began a massive overhaul of his hotel, including construction of an additional floor, a summer garden bar, and a beachside bar in front of the building. The renovation increased the room inventory by 25 percent and ensured that the design and comfort level met American standards.
Gogitidze realized that improvement of the hotel might not be sufficient to attract clients, so he proactively used some of the marketing techniques he learned in the U.S., including creating exclusive contracts with foreign tour agencies in order to promote his hotel. His understanding of tourism operations ensured that the hotel was booked for the entire three-month tourist season. Gogitidze’s profit has increased by 30 percent from the year before. The renovated hotel and promotion strategy won high marks from Thomas Tait, an international tourism industry consultant and presenter at the Reno training, who visited Georgia in September.
“The Community Connections Professional Program significantly helped me develop new tourism services in Kobuleti and become a strong competitor to other seaside resorts. My experience helped not only in expanding my business but also supported tourism development in the city,” says Gogitidze.
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