The tourist invasions
(Chapter one: in the Caucasus)
"The memory preserves only fragments. Remembering is like digging in search of fossils " E.R.
Georgia is the Caucasus region that feels the strongest increase in tourism in recent years.
In the first 6 months of 2017 alone, Georgia saw an increase in foreign tourists amounting to 29%. On the one hand, tourism has allowed to create new job opportunities for a whole generation of young people without great prospects until then, on the other hand this mass phenomenon has drastically changed the nature of places and has sometimes transformed them into a kind of playgrounds.
Many tourists leave to barely stop for a week and look for a complete Georgia experience. According to some estimates, the new generation of tourists comes mainly from the Arab countries and look for a cheap and pleasant experience of a few days. A tour in the center of Tbilisi, a wine tasting in the Kakheti region, the disruptive nature in the Kazbeghi and Svaneti area, but next year we will try to provide more services for the impervious region of Tusheti.
But it would be enough to take a walk in the old historical center of Tbilisi, the capital, to realize that the spread of touristic agencies offering tours. Of all kinds, it is now irrepressible.
In this photographic project called "The tourist invasions" I wanted to shed light on this phenomenon of mass tourism in Georgia and try to capture the effects of this phenomenon on Georgia and its inhabitants.
