On 14th May Chiatura Governor, Mr. Zurab Kupatadze hosted the officials from the National Tourism Administration of Georgia and Imerety regional government. The Head of the National Tourism Administration, Mr. Giorgi Chogovadze, the Deputy Regional Governor Mr. Josef Khakhaleishvili and media representatives visited the natural and cultural heritage sites of Chiatura and took a ride on the cableway #25, the earliest civic cableway in former Soviet Union (1953) in use till today. Admitting the unique value of the cableway, the official guests discussed the potential for tourism development in Chiatura.

As a result of increasing attention to Chiatura’s heritage thanks to active work in scopes of COMUS, the Cableway #25 was listed as cultural heritage monument in 2016 and selected among priority rehabilitation actions by the local stakeholders group.  The visit of the tourism sector officials opens realistic perspectives for integration of Chiatura into national and regional tourism development policies, schemes and programs, thus contributing to diversification of local economy in the long term and improved social-economic conditions in the town.