Annotation. One of the key priorities of the world community in terms of sustainable development is transition to the “green” economy. Tourism is a sector that, based on current requirements, is at the crucial stage of its transformation.

In the context of the “green” economy, tourism is considered as an activity that at the same time implies: environmental, economic and social impacts, satisfying demands of customers of tourism services and protecting interests and rights of local people.

Keywords:  green economy, tourism, green tourism, ecological problems, sustainable development, regional development.

Introduction

Green economy is one of the most active problems in the modern world. Practically all countries participate in this process, including Georgia. A green economy provides real, sustainable economic development and reduces environmental pollution, climate change, environmental degradation and the risk of resource utilization.

Green economy is one of the most active problems in the modern world. Practically all countries participate in this process, including Georgia. A green economy provides real, sustainable economic development and reduces environmental pollution, climate change, environmental degradation and the risk of resource utilization.

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According to the latest statistic data and analysis, it is proved that every 10 percent of the world income is up to the tourism, it implies that tourism has some crucial benefits for the country's economic life. Consequently, we can say that potential influence of tourism on the whole world's economy is really significant and impressive, though,  every subject has its pros and cons. Besides some important benefits and advantages, positive influence of tourism on the world's economy, there are so many disadvantages and negative influence. One of the most adverse influences are ecological problems,  it means that touristic regions are more likely to have ecological troubles, since it is impossible to avoid some negativities and not to touch the environment adversely during touristic seasons.

The tourism industry is the world's largest and most complicated industry and this complexity is because of having a strong bond with social, cultural, political and environmental issues. In the meantime, because of the connection between tourism and the environment together, the effects of tourism in this area are more remarkable.

As we know, tourism develops and changes the world's life style greatly, but these changes aren't always positive, as we mentioned above, every subject has its pros and cons, thus we must speak about both positivities and negativities connected with the abovementioned issue. Primarily, we have to identify, define the main risk-factors and  then decrease them.

Nowadays, in the contemporary life, there are plenty of dramatically developing touristic regions around the world. We need to emphasize that excessive and dramatic development of tourism has the most adverse, destructive influence on the whole world,  regarding appropriate and balanced rate of development of  tourism,  it really supports and develops  the world's economy. As I mentioned above, chaotically and dramatically developing touristic regions are more likely to have more and more ecological and social problems. Some of the touristic regions are overdeveloped, it implies that they aren't competitive enough, they aren't capable of preventing touristic centers from developing.

In case of unqualified planning, managing and excessive, dramatic development of tourism, results can be defined and classified:

• Polluting of touristic regions and places, some bugs connected with sewerage system will surely result in pollution of rivers, lakes, underground water.
• Excessive usage of transport such as vehicles in touristic regions may result in air pollution. Thus, air will be polluted and it will cause plenty of other troubles such as health problems..
• Inappropriately planned and  built touristic factories, their inappropriate location, excessively eye-catching advertisements may result in worsening esthetics of landscape. It also destroys picturesque and the most eye-catching views, sightseeings, historical and architectural statues.
• There is a problem of collecting and removing trash.
• Generally, tourists don't tend to be careful towards historical and architectural, archeological statues, they don't take care of them.
• There are plenty of problems connected with groundworking and ecology. Excessive and inappropriate usage  of touristic regions and places, not considerating of its penetrability may result in disruption of natural places and territories.

Fortunately, in recent years, tourism trips have been along emphasizing on the importance of environmental protection. Undoubtedly, tourism activities in the areas of ecotourism can leave environmental consequences either directly or indirectly.   

Some positive effects:

• • Promoting the environmental culture in the tourist and cultural approach.
• • The acquisition of foreign currency and an increase in gross national income and the expansion  of accommodation, catering.
• • Providing employment issues such as the production and sale of goods, transport and services.
• • Development of the integration of tourism activities.

When considering the negative aspects of the impact of tourism on the environment, it is necessary to focus on the environmental problems occurred in the protected territories. It is important to determine the type of tourism activity, impact factors and expected threats that will prevent negative consequences, such as:

ü Damage to vegetation during camping or picnicking (which are followed by setting up of camps, walks throughout protected areas, noise, etc.), adverse effects on wildlife, in frequent cases - water pollution, etc.;

ü Damage to vegetation, soil erosion and stiffening during hiking or walking, which require paving of roads and trails;

ü Trading with folk crafts items is one of the tourist processes, which often includes making of certain souvenirs from plants, birds and animals. All these pose threat of extinction of rare species of flora and fauna.

Economy and tourism closely interact with each other. Economy affects tourism, and tourism affects the entire economy of a country. Of course, determining the share of the entire sector is not an easy task; however, as noted by the 2010-2017 Secretary-General of the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) – “the positive correlation between the economic development of the country and the development of tourism and hospitality industries is obvious”.

Today, there are 9 regions in Georgia; the levels of socio-economic development of each of them differ significantly from each other, which is mainly due to the collapse of the industrial and tourism potential of the Soviet period in the regions, as well as the unemployment of the labor force of the former industrial and tourist regions.

The "green" tourism is a global trend, and according to the latest statistical data, more than one-third of the world's travelers opt for it. It is interesting to know what role the “green” tourism can play in the development of the Georgian economy. The prospects of the "green" tourism in the context of the green economy can be formulated as follows: due to its unique natural, climatic, or landscape resources, Georgia has favorable conditions for the development of "green" tourism. For example, the development of protected territories and adjacent areas is directly related to the improvement of economic conditions of people in regional and rural areas. Developed infrastructure will ultimately lead to an increase in the length of stay of visitors that will lead to sharp increase in income.

In a number of countries, when studying the scale of the impact of tourism on the economy, it is of particular interest to determine the contribution of this sector to the development of the regional economy; for example, in the seven-year (2014-2021) plan of regional development of Georgia, tourism is named as one of the priorities. The regional development strategy of Georgia is aimed at eliminating the sharp imbalance between the levels of regional development in our country and creating tourism infrastructure suitable for the region with rich tourist potential. This will lead to the activation of the economic functions of tourism, which automatically implies the creation of direct or indirect jobs in tourism enterprises, organizations or firms, etc. In general, this will lead to an increase in the standard of living and the quality of life of the population, that is, to prosperity. Based on the above, there is a hope that the migration of the regional and rural population to large cities will be reduced. The number of people willing to leave the country in search of work will also be reduced.

Production of bioenergy products, production of biofuels and the full cycle of functional use are also considered as the leading directions of multilateral and complex development of “green” tourism in Georgia. An integrated approach to introducing the production of bioenergy products and biofuel in our country requires practical implementation at all stages. The use of biomaterials in the development of tourism makes this sector even more attractive and interesting in every sense. Tourism development is characterized by two mandatory steps:

Preparatory and subsequent stages.

Preparatory stage implies:

ü Any part, region or village of Georgia for the development of the tourism sector needs cleaning and cleansing from natural waste, which requires involvement of human resources.

ü Flora of Georgia will be protected from further felling and destruction.

ü Natural waste will actually acquire useful function;

Consequent stage implies:

ü Creating new jobs. Providing employment opportunities for population of the region, ensuring long-term and stable income, regardless of their age and education.

ü Production of biofuel in Georgia and its use in tourism will make the services affordable for customers of tourism products, which will facilitate the development of domestic tourism. 

ü Georgia will have a convincing image of both the manufacturer and the supplier country, which will additionally contribute to the rapid development of tourism. 

Conclusion

Thus, the tourism sector has a positive impact on the country's economy. It makes significant contribution to green development, to conflict resolution, to the development of adjacent sectors, etc. However, we should not forget that tourism-related activities are characterized by special sensitivity and the role of this field in sustainable development is not univocally positive; revenues from tourism are not the only results characteristic to this business. Despite the great role and importance of tourism in the development of regions, it is accompanied by a number of negative effects, which, if left out of consideration may have irreversible negative consequences in terms of economic, social and environmental issues. 

References

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