Opening the meeting, the head of state noted that a large flow of tourists is expected this year. “We need to create conditions so that people who will rest in Abkhazia have a desire to visit us more than once,” Bzhania said.

Minister of Tourism Teimuraz Khishba made a report on the holiday season preparations. According to him, 450 accommodation facilities function in Abkhazia, the capacity of which is about 25 thousand beds.

Khishba noted that this year Abkhazia entered the top 10 countries in demand for travel among Russians.

“In 2020, more than 600 thousand Russian tourists visited Abkhazia (for the entire 2019 there were about 1.1 million), that is, more than half of 2019. This was facilitated by both excellent weather in the velvet season, and the fact that the vast majority of destinations of foreign tourism remained closed, ” Minister said.

During the May holidays, it is expected that about 20 thousand tourists will visit Abkhazia, which is 50% higher than in 2019.

Today, the average percentage of occupancy of health resort and hotel organizations for the May holidays is about 80%, and the level of booking for the summer period is more than 70%. At the same time, prices in May are at the level of 2020, "on high dates, the growth is maximum 10% in relation to prices in 2020".

Khishba also spoke about the plans of the Ministry of Tourism, including those aimed at popularizing Abkhaz resorts and developing a tourism brand. Minister also voiced the existing problems. Among them:

physical wear and tear of the main production assets of the modern tourist complex;

the seasonality of the work of the recreational economy;

insufficient room stock of the hotel complex, which includes hotels of the first, middle and economy class, as well as the inferiority of its structure, capable of meeting the needs for accommodation of various social groups of tourists and guests;

poorly developed infrastructure for the industry;

lack of a national classification system for objects of the tourism industry;

insufficient information and advertising support of national tourist sites for their presentation on the international tourist market;

the difficulty of crossing the Russian-Abkhaz border;

the quality of the roads of the excursion routes, the lack of parking lots and transport interchanges;

insufficient level of quality of provided tourist services;

low level of professional training in the industry, which does not meet the standards of international tourism;

lack of a sufficient number of modern equipped beaches and places for mass recreation;

unstable foreign policy situation associated with partial recognition of the RA.

At the end of his speech, Khishba noted that the solution of all the tasks set is the main goal on the eve of the upcoming holiday season. “It is necessary to make every effort to make it successful and to please the holidaymakers,” said Khishba.

Prime Minister Alexander Ankvab asked Minister of Tourism what percentage of the total number of tourists who visited Abkhazia in 2019 were those who came on day trips.

“This figure corresponds to the indices of the Soviet times of 1989. The media will spread this information around the world. There arises a question: if so many vacationers have visited us, where is the money earned? " - asked Ankvab.

Minister of Tourism replied that, indeed, most of the people who visited Abkhazia are those who came on one-day excursions. There are about 700 thousand of them. The rest are those who have rested in Abkhazia for five days or more.

Interior Minister Dmitry Dbar will talk about the planned public order activities in the upcoming holiday season.

Minister of Health Tamaz Tsakhnakia and Chief Sanitary Doctor Lyudmila Skorik will make a report on the epidemiological situation and measures to combat coronavirus infection during the tourist season.

Minister Lev Kvitsinia will talk about the activities of the Ministry of Emergency Situations during the holiday season.

Acting Minister of Taxes and Levies Merab Logua will provide information on the activities of his ministry.

The Deputy Chairman of the State Security Service, the head of the border detachment will talk about the activities of the border and preparations for the tourist season.

The heads of Sukhum, Gagra and Gudauta regions - Beslan Eshba, Yuri Khagush and Bagrat Bodzhgua will report on the measures taken by local administrations to prepare for the season.