Visitor Experience

Strategies will concentrate on creating a welcoming and memorable experience with global standards of hospitality, including the availability of visitor information.

5.1.1 Culinary Excellence: Collaborate with local chefs and food producers to elevate the quality of dining experiences, offering farm-to-table menus featuring fresh, locally sourced ingredients and highlighting unique regional flavors and dishes. To support local food producers, improve product quality, and strengthen the supply chain for eateries and experiences, ensuring a reliable source of fresh, local ingredients for the best quality food products. 

5.1.2 Exceptional Customer Service: Provide comprehensive customer service training to tourism industry staff, emphasizing the importance of professionalism, friendliness, and responsiveness to ensure that visitors receive exceptional service throughout their journey. Encourage personalized contact between front-line workers and empower them to apply their own knowledge for creating more engaging encounters.

5.1.3 Seamless Digital Experience: Enhance the digital experience for visitors by improving the user-friendliness and functionality of the destination website and mobile apps, making it easy for travelers to access information, book accommodations and activities, and navigate the destination.

5.1.4 Premium Accommodation Options: Invest in the development of upscale accommodations such as boutique hotels, luxury resorts, and eco-lodges that offer premium amenities, personalized service, and unique design elements to cater to discerning travelers seeking high-quality lodging experiences.

The objective aims to establish a robust visitor feedback mechanism, promoting continuous improvement and ensuring that the needs and expectations of visitors are met with the highest standards.

5.2.1 Online Feedback Platform: Implement an online feedback platform where visitors can easily provide reviews, ratings, and comments about their experiences, allowing for real-time feedback collection and analysis to identify areas for improvement. That can be accessible via mobile devices or kiosks throughout the tourism infrastructure, allowing visitors to provide immediate input on their experiences.

5.2.2 Visitor Satisfaction Surveys: Conduct regular visitor satisfaction surveys both onsite and post-visit, gathering insights into visitor preferences, satisfaction levels, and areas of concern to inform decision-making and strategic planning.

5.2.3 Social Media Monitoring: Monitor social media channels for visitor feedback, reviews, and comments, actively engaging with visitors online to address concerns, answer questions, and foster positive interactions that enhance the overall visitor experience.

5.2.4 Improve on Scenic Recreational Activities: Capitalize on the river and its surrounding landscapes to offer opportunities for recreational tourism, such as fishing, rafting, swimming, and family picnics.

5.2.5 Improve Agritourism and Gastro-tourism Opportunities: Building on Mravaldzari village's efforts - explore local farms, connect with farmers, and showcase Oni's unique flavors.  This initiative could draw in an audience of European, Canadian, and American millennials interested in regenerative living (homesteading) and urban escapism.

5.2.6 Improve Wellness Tourism Offerings: Consider collaborating with experienced yoga instructors, holistic practitioners, and herbalists to organize workshops, retreats (such as unplugged digital detox weekends), and training programs to attract an audience interested in holistic practices.

5.3.1 Create and Sell Packaged Tours: Tourists seek immersive and hands-on experiences such as crafting, dancing, and singing along with performers, and learning to cook alongside locals. Offerings may include masterclasses, a unique language course, guided tours, and artisan shop visits. Package offerings, like “Caves and Waterfalls of Oni Tour,” including descriptions, photos, and price per person published in marketing materials. 

5.3.2 TransCaucasian Trail Route Services: The ongoing development of the trail route from Ghebi to Upper Svaneti has potential for developing services focused on related activities such as horseback riding, rock climbing, kayaking, mountain biking, and other adventure sports. 

5.3.3 Adopt SAVE Approach: SAVE is a tourism concept that integrates the market demand and untapped supply of four specific niche markets: Scientific,  Academic,  Volunteer,  and Education. This concept can help to connect Oni's local businesses, surrounding municipalities, and nonprofit organizations to necessary funding, market exposure, and customer supply with groups of researchers and students.

5.3.4 Highlight Oni as a Pilgrimage Destination: This will involve not only emphasizing religious and historical heritage but also offering guided tours, crafting pilgrimage itineraries, and ensuring the provision of necessary facilities and accommodations for visitors.

5.3.5 Develop Dark Sky and Stargazing Tourism: Construct Stargazing Infrastructure, like observation points, clear geodesic domes for lodging, or potentially an observatory,  which would be instrumental in developing the Dark Sky tourism sector.  Organize educational workshops, stargazing tours, and astronomy-themed events led by experts to educate tourists and locals about the night sky. Additionally, the municipality can be certified by DarkSky International, make use of stargazing apps/maps, and emphasize environmental conservation to preserve the region's natural beauty and attract tourists interested in night and nature. 

5.3.6 Develop Creative Products and Experiences Around Mineral Springs:  Create and package products making use of the mineral springs. A first effort could be to test the water mineral content and share scientifically proven health benefits information. 

5.3.7 Craftsmanship Collaborative Initiatives: Encourage local artisans to collaborate, provide training on souvenir creation, and establish a Made in Oni shop nearby or within the tourist information center. This will further enrich the souvenir landscape, creating a more diverse and appealing shopping experience for tourists.