On 24 May of 2016, at the exhibition center Expo Georgia in Conference Hall of Pavilion ІІІ, address №118 Tsereteli Ave. was held “Tourism and Hospitality Forum within the Welcome to Georgia! National Tourism Awards 2016”, organized by Welcome to Georgia! National Tourism Awards and co-organized with Georgian National Tourism Administration. The Forum was opened with a press conference, organizers and the government representatives, Ms. Maryna Chayka – Managing Partner Welcome to Georgia! National Tourism Awards, Mr. Dimitry Kumsishvili – Vice Prime Minister, Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development of Georgia, Ms. Ketevan Bochorishvili – Deputy Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development of Georgia, Mr. Davit Narmania – Mayor of Tbilisi, Mr. George Chogovadze – Head of Georgian National Tourism Administration and Mr. Irakli Lekvinadze – Deputy Mayor of Tbilisi spoke about importance of project for Georgian tourism industry, how important is to encourage companies playing in tourism industry and announced improvement of the Award’s Categories 2016 and Award’s organization information for nominees 2016. 

The Welcome to Georgia! National Tourism Awards is the Annual Awards Ceremony, which is held in Georgia in the field of tourism and hospitality. This Award is a good challenge for companies working in this field and should motivate them to increase their creativity and experience in providing the best service. It is a kind of Oscars for Georgian tourism and travel industries and a celebration of Georgian heritage, culture, traditions and modern achievements. 

The registration for nominees will start at 15 June, 2016. The Second Awards Ceremony will be held at the end of the November and the winners will named in 18 categories by the professional Jury Board. At the Forum also were invited special guests from Ukraine: Ms. Maryna Leo -Partner at DEOL Partners, Expert Council in Tourism in Ukrainian Parliament, who shared her experience of marketing development in hospitality sector and Mr. Anton Taranenko – Head of Kiev Tourism Administration, who talked about the directions of development of partnership with the Ukraine Tourism Market. At the second part of the Forum participants had an opportunity to listen to the presentations of the project partners.