New Georgian Mountain Resort Tetnuldi to be open in 2015
Soon one more worldwide level mountain-skiing resort ”Tetnuldi” will appear in Georgia
The biggest ski resort in Transcaucasia will be built in Svaneti region of Georgia - Tetnuldi Ski Resort. The mountain resort will be open during all the seasons. It will be able to go in for mountaineering, skiing, snowboarding, rafting and mountainbiking. Skiing period will last 6 months which is a very enjoyable for the lovers of the winter sports. The 35 million euro worth project is funded by Georgian and French goverments. It has already been planned to build 5 cableway stations, 18 skiing paths (25 km), infrastructural buildings, watersupply and mountain draining systems, administrative and all the other buildings which are essential for mountain-skiing resort
The project is being implemented by the company ”Tetnuldi Development” and the winner of tender – Austrian company ”RMS”. According to the project 70% of the local residents are employed in construction workings. The entire territory comprises 7000 hectares, 4500 hectares of which is the mountain-skiing territory. The project started in 2013 and will have been completed by the end of 2015. According to the calculations submitted to the official documentation made by ‘’Tetnuldi Development", the resort will serve 4100 skiers at the same time. The throughput of cableways is 800 people per hour, and the capacity of the resort is 6806 people. Tetnuldi Ski Resorts will match the international standards.
The construction workings are being performed with according to the specific researches. The researches of Tetnuldi mountain-skiing paths and mountain infrastructure workings are implemented by LTD ‘’Geographic". Within the project it is also planned to connect the mountain-skiing resort to 5 villages of Mulakhi community. Naturally, such connection will give these villages the prospect for developing as a tourist zone. Not only it will be possible to develop family hotels, but to arrange public catering and appropriate infrastructure as well.
The new skiing resort will bring additional income and will create new employment opportunities for the population of Svaneti region. One of the local residents of Svaneti Leri Niguriani says: "If Tetnuldi Ski resort starts working, it will breathe new life into Svaneti. It means that more working places will be created. And if the project is realized fully according to the plan, several nearby villages will be involved in the process and the people will have additional income. Apart from that, it has one more very important advantage – the young people will become interested in winter sports, which will greatly contribute to raising healthy generation. I personally run a little family-hotel but it works at full capacity only in summer. The first so –called ‘’winter tourists" appeared after Hatsvali-zuruldi was opened.No doubt, if Tetnuldi Ski Resort starts operating, the number of tourists will greatly increase and as a result we all, who are involved in the tourism business, will have the opportunity to expand our business".
The new skiing resort will strengthen Georgia’s position in the international tourism market and at the same time will help to develop the local tourism. Creating favorable environment for tourism development will contribute to improving the competitiveness of the country on the tourism business market of skiing resorts. Tetnuldi Ski Resort skiing resort has the chance to appear in the list of weather forecast on BBC. At the moment the negotiations are being held on this question. The opening of Tetnuldi Ski Resort skiing-resort is planned on 15 December 2015.
Written by Sopo Burduli.
