13^th of November 2020, – Up to 15 tourist service providers from Khulo municipality took part in a one-day training in Gastro tourism organized in the framework of the EU-funded project “Promotion of rural development and diversification in Khulo Municipality”. The training purpose was to review gastro tourism opportunities and modernization of traditional cuisine.

The training წას conducted in village Varjanisi, Keda municipality, in wine cellar Chateu Iveri. The training was led by expert in Gastronomy, Besik Shavishvili and chefs, Giorgi Seturi and Roin Faghava. The first half of the training day was dedicated to theoretical topi “Service and international standards in gastronomy”, whilst practical examples modification of local and national cuisine by chefs took place in the second half of the day.

Tourism is important part of economy of Ajara region. However, due to insufficient quality of provided touristic services, the population of rural areas does not fully benefit from tourism. Accordingly, development of gastro tourism, one of the main part of tourist services, will contribute to improve the quality of overall tourist services in rural area, that in turn provides increased income from tourist sector and economic development of residents of rural areas.

Rural tourism development is one of the main priorities for EU supported ENPARD Khulo project. With marking of the hiking trail, the project aims to establish new tourist products and give new opportunities to local tourist service providers, to increase attractiveness of their products.

The EU is supporting agriculture and rural development in Georgia through its ENPARD Programme. Implemented since 2013 with a total budget of EUR 179.5 million, the main goal of ENPARD is to reduce rural poverty in Georgia. The first phase of ENPARD in Georgia focused on developing the potential of agriculture. The second and third phases of ENPARD focus on creating economic opportunities for rural population that go beyond agricultural activities. More information on ENPARD is available at: www.enpard.ge.