The Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Republic of Abkhazia continues the tradition of holding the meetings with schoolchildren and students of the republic.  The purpose of such events is to share information about the work of the CCI and its participation in the development of various sectors of the economy of our state.

On March 5, the leadership of the non-profit community "Abkhaz Tourism Union", created at the initiative of the CCI of RA, following the example of the chamber, held a joint meeting with the Department of Tourism of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry with Biology and Geography Faculty (specialty "Tourism") students. It was also attended by representatives of the hotel business of the republic. At first, ATU President Anna Kalyagina presented a film about the “Abkhaz Tourism Union”, the film was about meetings with businessmen, round tables, master classes, side-sessions and holding, jointly with the CCI, the first and second tourist forums “VIZIT APSNY”.

She also recalled the participation of the “Abkhaz Tourism Union” in the clean-up organized on the Chamber’s initiative, held under the slogan “for pure Abkhazia”.

Anna Kalyagina remembered with gratitude the first president of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry G.L. Gaguliya and emphasizes his relevance in the creation of ATU.

The head of the tourism department of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry Inara Daurova shared information with students about the work carried out by the Chamber of Commerce and Industry for the development of tourism at international exhibitions and press, information and promotional tours. She noted that Abkhazia is very attractive and interesting to the European tourists as a new, exotic country. “Participation in international exhibitions is also a mandatory presentation of Abkhaz products. They always ask where all this can be bought and how to reach Abkhazia,”- summed up Inara Daurova.

She noted the negative reaction of Georgians to the participation of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry in international exhibitions, recalled the repeated protests and obstacles perpetrated by the delegation of independent Abkhazia, the Georgian authorities and diplomats.

Elena Klemenko, the manager of the Amra Hotel, told the students how after a large-scale renovation their hotel is working and about the new features of this facility - a unique medical base, a swimming pool, a gym, a cinema, and a unique territory. She said that the hotel is ready to take students to do their internship with their subsequent employment. Elena Klemenko touched upon the topic of hotel occupancy and spoke about other issues.

The directors of the “Inter-Sukhum” hotel - Lev Pavlov, “Aqua Resort” - Nizam Hapat spoke of the need to increase service, and that only through joint efforts could improvements be achieved in this area.

Students listened to the guests with great interest and asked many interesting questions. In particular, they were interested in: whether ATU plans to create new tourist and combined routes, reforms in tourism, whether Abkhazia’s tourism needs oil production, how the tourist product is formed, how the Guest Card works and many others.

The ASU teachers present at the meeting asked questions and made suggestions for jointly holding events in the field of tourism with the involvement of students, for practical training and for the employment of students.