On December 2, at the “The Biltmore Hotel Tbilisi” was held Welcome to Georgia! National Tourism Awards Second Official Ceremony, where 19 winners from 19 different categories were revealed: 

1. BEST BUSINESS EVENT VENUE AWARD – Holiday Inn Tbilisi
2. BEST MICE TOURISM AWARD – BTL Georgia
3. BEST TOURISM RESTAURANTS SERVICES AWARD – Restaurant "Georgian House"
4. BEST TOURISM WINERY AWARD – Winery Khareba
5. BEST BOUTIQUE ACCOMMODATION AWARD – Vinotel
6. BEST STANDARD ACCOMMODATION AWARD – Courtyard by Marriott Tbilisi
7. BEST DELUXE ACCOMMODATION AWARD – Crowne Plaza Borjomi
8. BEST WELLNESS & SPA RESORT AWARD – Lopota Lake Resort & Spa
9. BEST MOUNTAIN ACCOMMODATION AWARD – Rooms Hotel Kazbegi
10. BEST SEA ACCOMMODATION LOCATED IN THE CITY – Divan Suites Batumi
11. BEST SEA ACCOMMODATION LOCATED ON THE COAST – Hilton Batumi
12. BEST LOW BUDGET ACCOMMODATION AWARD – Dvizh Hostel Eli Spali
13. BEST TOURISM INNOVATION OF THE YEAR AWARD – Check in Georgia
14. BEST FESTIVAL OR EVENT AWARD – GEM Fest
15. BEST INCOMING TOUR OPERATOR AWARD – CAPITAL GEORGIA TRAVEL
16. BEST OUTBOUND TOUR OPERATOR AWARD– Easy Travel Agency
17. BEST ADVENTURE TOURISM AWARD – rafting.ge
18. BEST TRAVEL PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR – Shermazana
19. THE FASTEST GROWING COMPANY OF THE YEAR IN THE SME SEGMENT – Continent Cron Palace Tbilisi

First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance of Georgia – DimitryKumsishvili; Deputy Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development of Georgia – Ketevan Bochorishvili; Tbilisi Mayor – Davit Narmania; Deputy Mayor of Tbilisi – Irakli Lekvinadze; Head of Georgian National Tourism Administration – Giorgi Chogovadze; and more than 500 guest from tourism and hospitality industry, government officials, private business, mass media and press industry _ attended.

Award Ceremony was opened by the First Deputy Prime DimitryKumsishvili, he spoke about importance of the project for Georgian tourism industry, how important it is to encourage companies operating in this field and handed Special Award for "AWARD FOR CONTRIBUTION TO TOURISM DEVELOPMENT" to Mariam Kvrivishvili.

At the Ceremony, Tbilisi Mayor Davit Narmania handed special diploma for the contribution in developing Georgian tourism industry to “Radio Holding Fortuna”.

Deputy Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development of Georgia Ketevan Bochorishvili, one of the jury members spoke about the evaluation methods and handed special award “OPENING OF THE YEAR AWARD” to “The Biltmore Hotel Tbilisi”

Project’s co-organizer, head of Georgian National Tourism Administration Giorgi Chogovadze, handed special diploma for contribution in the development of tourism industry between Ukraine and Georgia to Ukrainian Magazine “International Tourism Magazine”

At the end of the Award Ceremony the CEO/ Co-Founder of the Welcome to Georgia! Awards Project Maryna Chayka addressed guest in Georgian and noted that “as she promised last year she started studying  Georgian, which is a big challenge for her.  Also, she mentioned that combination of international standards with deep-rooted hospitality, culture and history of Georgia, will give us something unique, that will help Georgian Tourism and Hospitality Industry for further development.”

More than 300 Nominees  from the Georgian tourism and hospitality industry form all regions participated in the project: hotels; Travel agencies and tour operators; Festivals and events; Restaurants, food spots and wineries; Travel photographer; Business and entertainment venue; The process of assessment was divided in two parts: the first part of the assessment was – ONLINE VOTING on the projects official website; The second part of the assessment – by the professional Jury Board. Members of Jury Board consisted experts of the world and local travel, culture and hospitality market.All assessment processes for each nominee were calculated by the Awards Independent Auditor “BDO Georgia” and they determined the finalists and the winners in each nomination. 

The main mission of the Welcome to Georgia! National Tourism Awards is to encourage tourism and hospitality industry in Georgia and also to promote the awareness of the high-achieving tourism business and brands that create a positive image of the country worldwide.