GEORGIA: WINTER SPORTS - Gearing up for an ambitious transformation programme aimed not only at the realisation of an Olympic dream, but the establishment of Georgia as a top European winter sports destination

Record ID: 331834

  • Title: GEORGIA: WINTER SPORTS - Gearing up for an ambitious transformation programme aimed not only at the realisation of an Olympic dream, but the establishment of Georgia as a top European winter sports destination
  • Date: 26th February 2006
  • Summary: BAKURIANI, GEORGIA (RECENT) (REUTERS) PAN OF MOUNTAIN VILLAGE MOUNTAINS WIDE OF SKI SLOPE/ PEOPLE SKIING PEOPLE ON SKI LIFT/ MAN RIDING HORSE SKIS LINED UP FOR RENT VARIOUS OF PEOPLE GOING UP SLOPE ON SKI LIFT VARIOUS OF PEOPLE SKIING DOWNHILL MAN RUNNING AND JUMPING DOWNHILL ON SKIS CLOSE-UP SKIS CHILD SKIING GEORGIAN PRESIDENT MIKHAIL SAAKASHVILI SKIING MAN SKIING DOWNHILL WITH GEORGIAN FLAG SOUNDBITE (English) SAAKASHVILI: "I think by that time when the decision (on where to host the 2014 Olympic games) will be taken, Georgia will be one of the best winter sports destinations in Europe. There are a multitude of factors. And we are being optimistic." YOUNG PEOPLE WITH SKIS SOUNDBITE (English) SAAKASHVILI: "You know there are lots of people around Georgia and in Georgia who like to invest in this because this is win-win situation. You cannot lose on winter tourists. There are so many things, so many people coming, so many new exciting things happening. So this is somewhere, something where you can really be competitive - as a country, as a ski resort destination, as a place to be, a nice place just to have rest." SKI LIFT IN MOTION GEORGIAN OLYMPIC COMMITTEE VICE PRESIDENT, GOGI TOPADZE, TALKING ON MOBILE PHONE SKIERS STANDING WITH GEORGIAN FLAG SOUNDBITE (Russian) GEORGIAN OLYMPIC COMMITTEE VICE PRESIDENT GOGI TOPADZE SAYING: "Let's rate our chances objectively: there's a lot to do here. A lot has to be built. But we have to make people know about us. If not 2014, then 2018. We have to build, we have to prepare and we want people to know that Bakurian is a place where all the winter olympics can be held." HORSE STANDING AT BOTTOM OF SKI SLOPE MAN ON SKI LIFT PLAYING GUITAR AND MOUTH ORGAN SOUNDBITE (Russian) YOUNG BOY, GEORGE TSATSUA: "It all depends on the president (Saakashvili), whether he builds everything for the Olympics. Also on the people - so they don't prevent him from doing it. But I think the Olympics will be held here." PEOPLE ON HORSE-DRAWN SLEIGH SOUNDBITE (Russian) LOCAL MAN DAVID MGALOBLISHVILI SAYING: "If they (the Olympics) take place (here) or not, if they make the bid, it's bread (money) for us. The infrastructure will develop and it's better for us and for everyone." HORSE-DRAWN SLEIGH MOVING ALONG MAIN ROAD 26. OPEN AIR MINI BUS STANDING AT SIDE OF ROAD 27. YOUNG MAN SKIING DOWN MAIN ROAD/ PAN TO CARS AND SKIERS ON MAIN ROAD
  • Embargoed: 13th March 2006 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Georgia
  • Country: Georgia
  • Topics: Sports,Travel / Tourism
  • Reuters ID: LVA27VT6X4QR3BBPIXCZYDJT4WWY
  • Story Text: As the Turin Winter Olympics draw to a close, Olympic organisers will be looking ahead to the next few years. With Vancouver already named for 2010, the search is on for a venue to host the 2014 winter games.
    South Korea's Pyeongchang, which was runner up to Vancouver, is the current favourite, with Austria's Salzburg and Jaca of Spain also in the running.
    But among the other hopefuls is the tiny former Soviet state of Georgia, currently gearing up for an ambitious transformation programme aimed not only at the realisation of an Olympic dream, but the establishment of Georgia as a top European winter sports destination.
    One of the venues nominated is Bakuriani, a relatively unknown resort nestled in the Caucasus mountains in the country's southeast.
    Undeniably beautiful, it boasts a favourable climate and spectacular, unspoilt mountainous terrain.
    A cluster of largely delapidated wooden houses and broken fences, Soviet Olympic skiers once trained here and the facilities have barely changed since. Though popular with local tourists, accomodation is basic and sporting and leisure facilites minimal. A single, rudimentary ski lift runs up the slopes and cars vie with horse-drawn sleighs along the main street.
    Georgian president Mikhail Saakashvili, however, has pledged massive investment to transform the local sporting facilities and has unveiled ambitious plans to build a complex of top class hotels, a network of cableways, recreational, sport and entertainment centres.
    "I think by that time when the decision (on where to host the 2014 Olympic games) will be taken, Georgia will be one of the best winter sports destinations in Europe," said a beaming Saakashvili, himself a keen skier. "There are a multitude of factors. And we are being optimistic."
    He needs to be.
    Georgia may have the money, the terrain and probably the political will, but with almost no existing winter sports infrastructure, it is a struggle to imagine its transformation into a top class venue to satisfy the world's sporting elite.
    But Saakashvili is undeterred.
    "You know there are lots of people around Georgia and in Georgia who like to invest in this because this is win-win situation. You cannot lose on winter tourists. There are so many things, so many people coming, so many new exciting things happening. So this is somewhere, something where you can really be competitive," he continued enthusiastically.
    A exciting idea, but a cursory glance at the surrounding scene with its total absence of anything remotely resembling modern winter sporting facilities hardly invites comparisons with the world's famous ski resorts - despite the convictions of local officials otherwise.
    "There's a lot to do here. A lot has to be built," admits Georgian Olympic Committee vice president Gogi Topadze.
    "But we have to make people know about us. If not 2014, then 2018. We have to build, we have to prepare and we want people to know that Bakuriani is a place where all the Winter Olympics can be held."
    His realistic optimism is shared by George Tsatsua, a young skier.
    "It all depends on the president (Saakashvili), whether he builds everything for the Olympics. Also on the people - so they don't prevent him from doing it. But I think the Olympics will be held here," he said.
    The Russian resort of Sochi and Almaty, the former capital of Kazakhstan, have also applied, but like Bakuriani, these long-shot bids will struggle to match the other three, which already boast infrastructure that would outpace Bakuriani in a sled, let alone a ski race.
    But whether Bakuriani wins the Games or not, the ambitious plans by government and big business could transform the local economy. The Georgian Olympic Committee along with private investors are reportedly set to spend about one and a half billion US dollars on development of infrastructures in Bakuriani, and a team of German experts is working with Georgian specialists to draw up a Bakuriani development plan.
    "If they take place or not, if they make the bid, it's bread for us," said David Mgaloblishvili, a local skier. "The infrastructure will develop and it's better for us and for everyone."
    The final decision will be made in July 2007.
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