Tourism

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A beach in Sukhumi (Sukhum). Photo: Dominik Cagara/OC Media.

Abkhazia

Russia warns tourists about travel to Abkhazia

by OC Media

•2 min read

The Russian Foreign Ministry has said they have been forced to warn their citizens about the ‘risk’ of travelling to Abkhazia, after a man convicted of raping a Russian tourist in 2019 was released from prison. In a statement published online on 16 February, the ministry condemned what it said was a ‘lenient attitude’ by the Abkhazian courts. Edgar Abukhba was convicted in 2021 of attacking and raping a Russian woman in Sukhumi (Sukhum) in July 2019, when he was 17 years old. He was origi

Abkhazia

Abkhazian Interior Minister orders police to stop extorting tourists

by OC Media

•3 min read

Abkhazia’s Interior Minister Robert Kiut has ordered police not to stop cars with Russian license plates in order to extract bribes. Speaking at a meeting of the state traffic inspectorate in Gudauta on 27 June, he said Russian cars should not be stopped without a ‘valid reason’. Kiut said that as tourists go through ‘all manner of checks’ at the border, they would not need to be subjected to spot-checks once within Abkhazia. Tourists entering Abkhazia from Russia have their documents

Photo: Promotional image from Kalakuri club.

Georgia

14 people convicted over Tbilisi tourist bar scam

by Shota Kincha

•2 min read

Tbilisi City Court has found 14 people guilty of scamming tourists in two Tbilisi clubs. On Tuesday, the Prosecutor’s Office announced that the court had fully agreed to their motion to convict 14 people, including the owner of Tbilisi nightclubs Kalakuri and Royal, for targeting foreign nationals with fraud. According to the Prosecutor’s Office, the owner of the two clubs set up a group of five individuals to run a scheme in which ‘promo girls’ contacted tourists in Tbilisi through social

Abkhazia

Is Abkhazia’s car insurance mandate driving tourists away?

by OC Media

•4 min read

As of May, all tourists driving into Abkhazia were expected to insure their cars. While this might save the government some headaches, some residents fear it could scare tourists away. Alias Abukhba, a resident of Sukhumi, had toiled and saved for two years before being able to afford the car of his dreams, an Audi A6 — which was unfortunately totalled by an intoxicated driver only three days after he bought it. ‘It was the son of an official’, recalled Abukhba. ‘To get money [in compensatio

Abkhazia

Abkhazia goes all-in for tourism in 2022

by Marianna Kotova

•4 min read

Abkhazia braces itself for a record-breaking tourist boom — but many fear that the current tourism infrastructure might buckle under the strain. The 2022 summer tourism season in Abkhazia is expected by many to be the most profitable in decades, as they brace for the projected arrival of an unprecedented wave of Russian tourists. In July 2021, the Ministry of Tourism announced a record number of tourists over the past 30 years, at around 1.5 million vacationers — more than double the number

Aida Balafkan during a previous visit to Tbilisi.

Georgia

‘Serious blow to Georgian studies’: government under fire for denying entry to British scholar

by Shota Kincha

•5 min read

Scholars and rights advocates have scrambled to hold the government to account after a Tehran-born British researcher was denied entry to Georgia without explanation. Over 180 mostly academic scholars and professors have signed a petition demanding clarification from the Government for denying entry to Aida Balafkan, a British citizen. The incident has threatened to move an academic conference from Georgia while Balafkan is currently mounting a legal challenge against the decision. Georgia

Georgia

Georgia denies entry to British woman ‘because of her birthplace’

by Shota Kincha

•3 min read

A British citizen has claimed to have been the victim of racial profiling upon her arrival in Tbilisi International Airport after she was refused entry into the country and quickly deported without explanation. Leila (not her real name), who was born in Tehran but moved to Britain as a child, told OC Media that she was denied entry to Georgia last week. She was visiting Georgia as part of her PhD research into Georgian culture. Leila was travelling with her husband Stewart (not his real name