Aiming to promote Georgia’s impressive tourism potential, the British Georgian Chamber of Commerce (BGCC) together with the　National Tourism Agency of Georgia organized a six-day tour to the country for eleven UK reporters and tour operators

For Ian Taylor, an Executive Editor of Travel Weekly, a leading trade publication, this trip was his first to Georgia. “It’s been a great pleasure, I’m going to write about my impressions when I return back,” Taylor told Georgia today.

The British delegation visited Tbilisi, Batumi, Sighnaghi, Telavi and other tourist destinations. After returning home, it is planned that the British-based journalists, will produce stories about their impressions, while the tour operators will promote tourism in Georgia through special offers and organize tours from Britain to Georgia.

According to Mako Abashidze, Director of BGCC, this is the second trip organized by her organization. “First was in 2008, in the aftermath of the August war,” she told Georgia Today.

Headquartered in London, BGCC promotes and supports the development of successful business relationships between the United Kingdom and Georgia.

According to Abashidze, BGCC provides assistance to both British and Georgian companies in establishing and developing contacts and joint ventures.

“We organize events, including marketing activities, small seminars and dinners for pre-selected groups, trade missions and facilitate network-building to help them acquire and sustain contacts, and provide information and support essential to doing business between the countries,” Abashidze told Georgia Today.

Valentina Sokolovska, from Ukraine International Airlines, the company that carried the delegation to Georgia, expressed her happiness with the Georgian trip. She said that she felt embraced by the “famous Georgian hospitality” and described the trip as “unforgettable.”

Sokolovska’s company was established in 1992 and is now Ukraine’s leading international airline, with passenger traffic growth of over 25 percent per annum.