Georgia has opened up, and prices have soared: tourists living in Georgia interviewed by Lenta.ru at the moment told Lenta.ru about the real prices for tourists in the Caucasus. After four years later, on Friday, Russia resumed direct flights with this country, and tourists began to actively sort out tickets, this topic became extremely relevant.
The publication mentions that the first flight was not greeted hospitably – supporters of the opposition Droa (Time) party – only about 200 protesters met tourists who had missed the hospitable country to the extreme with insulting cries and posters. Nevertheless, travel agencies are waiting for an increase in the flow of tourists to Georgia – according to PCT estimates, it amounted to 15-20%.
It should be noted that during the closure, Georgia received approximately 62 thousand Russian “relocators”, while Russians do not need a visa to enter Georgia, they can stay in the country for a year. As a result, the Russians bought about 8,000 apartments. And this is an additional reason for the tension in relations between Russian tourists and Georgians. The previous prices, when it was possible to rent a two-room apartment with a kitchen, an ideal renovation and good furniture for 500-1000 rubles a day for 500-1000 rubles a day.
As one of the tourists who went to Tbilisi on May holidays, prices in Georgia are quite high. “In shops like Spar, which are practically at every turn in Tbilisi, a dozen eggs cost around six lari (more than 200 rubles) – this is twice as expensive as in Moscow. It immediately caught my eye that the products are mainly Russian, there are also Azerbaijani ones,” he said. The only thing that is cheap is a taxi, and Yandex also works.
Another tourist said that in Georgia now “plus or minus Moscow prices.” “For example, in a khinkalnaya you can have a delicious meal for a thousand rubles. On the way to Mount Kazbek, we stopped at a cafe, where everything is much cheaper. In bars, the prices are the same as in Moscow. For example, cider is within 300 rubles,” the tourist said.
At the same time, according to tourists, it was not without conflicts. Although there are many “Russian-speaking youth in the country, as if now from Patrikov,” there were cases when Georgians aged 25-35 refused to rent out housing as soon as they found out that people had come from Russia. It happened that Georgians would come up in the bar and whisper insults in my ear. They said: “You are scum” – as a result, the tourists left there for Turkey.
“If we talk about renting and buying a home, there is complete trash. My friend rents a two-room apartment for a thousand dollars (80 thousand rubles). For Georgia it is expensive. Local residents are very unhappy that because of the tourists coming from the countries of the post-Soviet space, they cannot rent housing, they do not have enough money, ”says another interviewee.
Local residents, in turn, warn that people who come to little Georgia, while owning a lot of capital and promoting their business here, cause dissatisfaction with local residents. “Georgians themselves are quite poor people. For example, the Turks have occupied the trade sector, and Georgian entrepreneurs cannot compete with them, while the Indians have bought up land in Georgia, and the locals also do not know what to do with it. The same situation has developed with the Russians. As a result, real estate prices skyrocketed. As a result, tourists from Russia themselves could not pay for apartments and left for Armenia, where housing is cheaper. Georgia is already overcrowded. Of course, all of Moscow can come here, but what will the Russians do here? After all, competition has already reached its limit, and prices have skyrocketed, ”complain the locals.
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