‘Israeli Investments for the Development of the Tourism Industry’, a forum – dialogue held by Israel-Georgia Chamber of Business (IGCOB) on March 12 presented Georgian businessmen and Israeli experts with the opportunity to meet with potential partners and develop cooperation.
According to Itsik Moshe, President of IGCOB, the activities of the chamber this year are mainly focused on attracting Israeli investments into the tourism industry. With the slogan ‘Find your partner,’ the business forum featured presentations of field specialists from Israel, Italy and Turkey and focused on issues like phases of development of tourism industry in Israel and Turkey, deepening cooperation with Israel and direct business connections, involvement of banks in the development of the Israeli tourism industry and alternatives for Israeli investors.
“By the end of 2014, we will organize three focused business forums bringing Georgian businessmen to Israel and in the fall we will summarize the results and statistics in two forums and present what we achieved during the year,” he clarified.
Vincenzo Porciello, Managing Partner at APL Project Consultancy told Georgia Today that his involvement in the forum is related to the design of the hotel, new trends in interior and how to achieve good service through design. “Sometimes good design improves the profitability of the hotel. We are expert designers of the hotels worldwide; we have vast experience and it’s a great opportunity for us to apply what we learned here in Tbilisi in terms of Rixos hotel,” he continued.
Yossi Hamami, Vice President of Private Companies and Business Organizations in Israel (LAHAV) stated that they are open for investments in every country. “We arrived in order to study the market in Georgia and establish business relationships with the Georgian business sector,” he clarified.
“Israel and Georgia have many years of experience in terms of trade and investments,” stated Roman Chkenkeli, Advisor to the Prime Minister on economic issues. “Israel is a very strategic investor for Georgia and the goal of the government is to expand and develop that relationship even further. In this regard IGCC plays an important role, which helps to bring investors to the country,” he stated, adding that last year 40,000 tourists arrived from Israel – a rise of 29% from 2012.
Ilan Yaron, representative of Meda Group, an organization holding conferences in different fields, explained to the audience that they are specialists in organizing conferences on the tourism industry where they bring businessmen to the country so that they can learn more and gain an interest in investing.
The event, which was partnered by the Georgian Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Georgian National Tourism Administration, was supported by the Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development of Georgia.
Georgia Today
