Tourism in Georgia makes 8.1% of its GDP! Let’s do a Brand breakdown of Georgia, the country and see how India can take a page from its book. My wife Aditi Lath and I visited the country a week back and this is what we found:
Tourist Friendly: The picturesque locations are very much like Kashmir. Though the experience and ease is way better (our Georgia trip was cheaper than Kashmir). People even tackled the language issues (they speak Georgian) using Google Translate. I have written before how you have to be on your toes to figure out transport and sightseeing in Kashmir and have to negotiate like anything. There was no one trying to upsell a service or shove an activity down your throat, the majority of the services were seamless; needless to say all public places were clean as well. BTW no VISA required for most countries!
The Wine: Georgia is known as the birthplace of wine; do you know why? They found an old pot (they call it Qvevri) which they sent for analysis that proved its age (8000 years old) and that it was used to make wine. Their entire marketing is around this. There were paintings made from wine… the spas used grape seed oil… you could buy wine at even airports or any market (only Georgian)…and you could literally have a wine bath in some Chateaus! Now Georgia has specific regions famous for their wine. In fact a lot of wines are named after the region like Tsinandali and Kakheti; the entire tourism experience and branding is based around that. Now except maybe a Rampur Whiskey and Jaisalmer Gin, we rarely see that in India. Also, there isn’t much branding around why the cities are important. They are just ‘bottled’ there. In Georgia it is imperative that the weather is conducive for the particular grapes to grow there. There’s also a lot of politics involved in having their wine as the top rated in the world as well. 5.7% of their total export is wine! Remember the refutal of evidence India faced from the west when Sinauli was discovered? These things are important!
Preservation: I was awed when I went to Italy because they had so many monuments that had been preserved for millennia! Some artefacts that we found in museums in Georgia were even older than ancient Rome! It adds to the entire authenticity of their rich heritage. They rightly made a big deal about them too. Now, comparing to India, how many of you have visited the Sanchi Stupa, Or BodhGaya/Nalanda, or the Ajanta Ellora caves… one of the oldest monuments in India.
Georgia isn’t just a destination; it’s a masterclass in #BrandMarketing. 🇬🇪✈️ #GeorgiaAdventures #TravelMagic #CulturalRichness
PS: Hoping companies like Sula and Grover Vineyards take a page from their book and expand their marketing inline.
prannayj