Page 43 - bne IntelliNews George country report Sept 2017

Silk Road Group, a local conglomerate comprising of transport, telecommunications, banking and real estate operations, would continue to develop the building without the Trump franchise, the statement added.
9.1.5 Tourism sector news
Turkey, Azerbaijan and Belarus came to Georgia's aid by providing helicopters and planes to help put out wildfires that have ravaged through a scenic part of the Lower Caucasus mountains. The fire began on August 20 and has continued to spread despite the deployment of more than 1,500 fire fighters and volunteers, six helicopters and one plane at the scene.
The fire started in the Tsagveri forest in the Borjomi region, which is a tourist destination for nature and health tourism. The mountainous landscape made it difficult for crews to reach the site of the fire before it spread, and helicopters are unable to work during the night due to poor visibility, which made it possible for the fire to continue despite the efforts to put it out.
No human casualties have been reported, but more than 10 hectares of land are said to have been damaged and volunteers have had to cut 12 kilometres of roads to reach the fires, according to Georgiatoday.
Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili said on August 24 that the fire had been isolated from the remaining section of the forest. Several large companies in Georgia have vowed to help with tree replanting efforts.
The cause of the fire is unknown, though the "general consensus" among locals is that the fire started naturally, according to media reports. However, rumours circulating on social media on August 23 claimed that two empty gasoline canisters had been found in the forest. The internal affairs ministry has launched an investigation.
Global Forest Watch (GFW) has reported 366 fire alerts in Georgia in the past week alone and 692 since the beginning of the year, compared to 616 in all of 2016 and 822 in 2015.
The number of international tourists visiting Georgia increased by 28.6% y/y to 219,642 in March, the National Tourism Administration reported on April 3.
Tourism is one of Georgia's fastest growing sectors. In recent years, it has benefited from government-funded strategic marketing targeted at visitors from markets in Europe, the Middle East, Russia and Central and East Asia.
Meanwhile, a flurry of real estate developments related to receiving and entertaining tourists are helping to position the country as a destination for tourism featuring beach, gambling, cultural and mountaineering pursuits. Medical tourism is also a significant draw.
Georgia identifies tourists as those travellers that spend more than 24 hours in the country. The number of overall travellers in March increased by 13.1% y/y to 511,045. The most important sources of visitors continued to be neighbouring countries - Azerbaijan, Armenia, Turkey, Iran and Russia.
43 GEORGIA Country Report September 2017 www.intellinews.com