Culture and Tourism in Urban Spaces: Opportunities and Challenges (Kutaisi Case)

Abstract

Cultural heritage and cultural environment determine the face of the country and give us special features that we got from our ancestors. It is the basis of our identity, a source of knowledge and experience, containing a lot of information which needs to be deciphered and passed on to future generations. Urban tourist destinations are distinguished not only by their cultural-historical heritage but also by the diversity of their cultural landscape. In this regard, Kutaisi has a unique opportunity to emerge as one of the tourism urban centres in Georgia and bring great benefits to the country.There-fore, our research aims to evaluate and study Kutaisi as a cultural-tourist urban centre through its nat-ural and cultural heritage monuments, considering future trends, opportunities and challenges. Based on the study of the mentioned issues, we tried to identify the city of Kutaisi as an authentic tourist destination and prove its competitiveness.To achieve the goal and objectives of the research, we were guided by qualitative research methods and an analysis of statistical information, literature, and publi-cations within the framework of desk research. We collected data and formulated a set of innovations.The conducted research theoretical and statistical materials allow us to analyze the development of the cultural destinations of Imereti to identify the existing tourist potential in the Kutaisi municipality using the systematic analysis method. By developing and implementing the right destination planning strategy, Kutaisi will be one of the leading cities in terms of tourist destinations, bringing us economic benefits in the long term.