After strengthening its position as Georgia’s leading outbound tour operator, Voyager 365 is now entering the inbound tourism market.

Starting in September 2023, those seeking an unforgettable experience in Georgia will enjoy a complete range of holiday and travel services created by the experienced and professional team of Voyager 365.

CEO of Voyager 365 Gvantsa Gotsiridze told us that the initial plan was to offer both inbound and outbound services to the travelers, but “first I wanted to make the company a leader in outbound tourism”.

“I believe that at the moment Voyager 365 is the market leader in outbound tourism and that’s why we started to work on the inbound tourism project. Also, interest in Georgia has been increasing in recent years. After being a host country of the ITB Berlin tourism exhibition, interest in Georgia will increase. So I believe travel within Georgia will be in demand,” Gotsiridze said, adding that “the European tourist market is the most interesting to us.”

During three years of operations Voyager 365 has received two Golden Brand awards, the second one for successful activities in 2022.

Q. Please summarize 2022.
A. It was quite a successful year for Voyager 365. Georgia’s tourism sector has fully recovered from the pandemic. Demand in 2022 increased by 100% compared to the pre-pandemic year of 2019.

In spite of very increased demand, we think we maintained a high quality service. The number of employees doubled and an increase is projected for this year as well.

Also, marketing activities carried out in 2022 played an important role in winning the favor of experts and customers. The second Golden Brand award is a double responsibility for us, and it should be emphasized that the victory in 2021 further strengthened our positions in the corporate segment.

Q. What are the latest offers from Voyager 365?
A. Voyager 365 has added a new tourist package that includes sports and entertainment activities, such as concerts by famous artists in different locations, and fully planned tours of sporting events.

Our company was the first in Georgia to plan a group tour for fans of Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, winger of Italian club Napoli at the Napoli-Roma football match. The group consisted of 45 people.

We had an Amsterdam tour which included a Beyonce concert. We will try to offer all current events to Georgian travelers.

We think that Voyager 365 is distinguished by its well-defined, niche destinations.

Q. Which destinations were most in-demand last year among Georgian travelers?
A. Paris is the top destination, followed by Portugal and Indonesia.

Q. What were Voyager’s CSR activities in 2022?
A. The events in Ukraine were quite sensitive for us, so we were involved in the subsidy process.

We also helped several families living in Georgia’s border villages.

Voyager 365 became the main sponsor of the football club Sfera.

In 2022 we mainly responded to the demands of society and spontaneously funded individuals in need.

Q. Does Voyager 365 participate in international tourism exhibitions?
A. Last year the company participated in the tourist exhibition BIT MILANO in Milan, IFTM Top Resa in Paris and Travel Turkey izmir 2022 in Izmir. In 2023, we have already taken part in the aforementioned exhibition in Milan and in the tourist exhibition of ITB Berlin, where Georgia was the host country.

The company’s participation in various international exhibitions allows us to offer Georgian consumers a variety of interesting tourist products and to sign agreements with new partners who will provide reliable, high-quality services to Georgian vacationers.

Q. What is the competitive advantage of Voyager 365?
A. There is high competition on the market, and our advantage is high quality of service, and of course new and exciting destinations.

The main strength of our company is a high sense of responsibility and credibility, reflected in the fact that the company takes full responsibility for services provided from the beginning of the trip to its end. Tour managers are in contact with our tourists 24 hours a day and provide all additional services remotely upon request.

All of the above, the love of the work among our team, and commitment to the idea of creating a positive impression in the Georgian market, constitute the advantage of Voyager 365. I would also like to thank our customers for their trust and loyalty!

Vitaferol, a premium quality, 100% pure and highly bioavailable vitamin D supplement available on the Georgian market since 2016, has won the Golden Brand award to become the top such supplement in the country. 

A believer in timeless beauty, Nino Didia, doctor and cosmetologist with 20 years of experience in Ukraine, has established a new aesthetic center – Timeless by Nino Didia – in Tbilisi and is already raising standards in the field.

The one-year operation of the aesthetic center did not go unnoticed by local consumers, which recognized Timeless as the most dynamically developing brand of 2022 at the Golden Brand awards.

Nino Didia sat down with Golden Brand to share the dizzying journey of the company towards success and introduced her company to our readers.

Q. From Ukraine to Georgia ⁠— please tell us why you decided to establish a company in our country, what was your goal?

A. ‘Timeless’ is my dream come true. My goal was to introduce patients in Georgia to international practices in face and body care, to introduce the best cosmetology methods and innovative approaches.

Timeless by Nino Didia was established in September 2022 with the goal of introducing new standards in aesthetic medicine in our country. Since opening day, we have been focused on creating the most reliable and comfortable environment for patients ⁠— people who motivate us and encourage us to maintain our quality and offer even more innovations in the future.

It is so exciting to see that in just one year we have already achieved so much success, crowned by the Golden Brand award, which is our country’s most prestigious and influential business award.

We will continue to bring innovative approaches to the Georgian market. Very soon we will purchase a new, multifunctional device ⁠— a unique technology that is used to work on fine and thin wrinkles, to remove vascular pathologies, acne, unwanted pigmentation, scars, enlarged pores, and treatment of excessive sweating.

Q. Speaking of future plans, do you plan to expand?

A. So far we have only one branch, which is located on 12 Pavle Aslanidis street in Tbilisi, although we do not rule out expansion in the near future, both in Tbilisi and in other cities.

Q. What is the standard that you want to bring to Georgian aesthetic medicine with your clinic?

A. For us, it is a priority to help patients look perfect and maintain their individuality.

We help our patients “stop time” and become more self-confident. Our clinic uses only modern approaches and follows modern protocols. In order to improve the skills of our doctors, we undergo various personal training. All this gives us the advantage in establishing high quality service on the Georgian aesthetic medicine market.

Q. Tell us about these treatments that can “stop time” and make the beauty of your patients timeless?

A. We have everything to help our customers to take care of themselves and achieve the best results at our clinic ⁠— innovative, invasive and non-invasive procedures with modern approaches.

We offer the latest and safest methods of treatment.

Diagnosis of facial skin and hair, laser epilation; innovative body care equipment; a team of highly qualified doctors focused on quality assurance; and a pleasant environment suitable for the beauty industry. The procedures are carried out with the highest quality products with CE and FDA certificates.

The latest procedure, which we introduced in March, is spa manicure and pedicure. We saw there was demand from patients for this procedure and decided to go for it.

The procedure includes peeling, softening of the skin, and saturation of the skin with vitamins, both skin and nails. After the procedure, the skin becomes soft and velvety, while the nails become thicker.

I can also mention dysport injections, one of the most in-demand procedures at our clinic. Dysport temporarily treats moderate to severe frown lines between the eyebrows by reducing specific muscle activity.

Nowadays it is possible to partially or completely solve “beauty problems” with the right approaches, not surgically. The first thing is to consult a doctor and collect anamnesis. Our customers have no age limit. We help them take proper care of their skin, choose the right care line and keep their youth.

From one small hospital laboratory to a leading diagnostic service company, now with the most prestigious local business award, the Golden Brand  —  this is the story of Swedish laboratory network Synevo, which celebrated ten years of an “outstanding journey with spectacular performance”, according to Ariel Gatushkin, General Manager of Synevo Georgia.

Suprastin, used for treating allergic reactions, and produced and distributed in Georgia by Hungarian company Egis Pharmaceuticals PLC, has won the Georgian business award Golden Brand.

Strong Wash, a Georgian company involved in the production and distribution of auto chemicals, installation of car washes, and sale of high-pressure washing machines, will expand with two new branches in the cities of Kutaisi and Batumi.

To meet the brand’s growing demand, Georgian sunflower seed company Solari is expanding its product portfolio with packaged almonds and peanuts for snacking for the local and export markets.

For its traditional Austrian quality, a variety of choice and the best taste, Austrian meat product brand Schirnhofer has firmly established itself on the Georgian market.

Shiraqi, a Georgian producer of dairy products, is planning to expand its line with new products such as yogurt, matsoni (strained sour milk similar to yogurt), dambalkhacho (made from buttermilk cottage cheese), aged cheese and other varieties of milk products.

Founder of Shiraqi Nikoloz Beniaidze told us that the company has a “great desire” to create a Cheese Museum in the country, “where master classes on cheese and tasting events will be held,” he said.

Currently the company produces fifteen raw milk products ⁠— sulguni, smoked sulguni, Imeruli cheese Extra, Georgian Cheese, twisted cheese, smoked twisted cheese, sulguni sticks, smoked sulguni sticks, matsoni, cottage cheese, ghee, butter Glekhura.

Dairy products under the brand of Shiraqi are sold not only locally but on export markets as well. Today, Shiraqi cheese and sour cream is sold in Singapore, Dubai, France, the USA, and Bahrain.

Beniaidze said that Shiraqi is working to expand its exports, with Canada and Israel showing interest in Georgian produce.

The company processes up to ten tons of raw milk per day, of which 15-20% is exported. Shiraqi exports about forty tons of products per year.

Q. Shiraqi won the Golden Brand in the category “favorite cheese producer”. What does this recognition mean to the company?

A. The whole Shiraqi team works hard every day to create a complete cycle “from field to table” to deliver the highest quality raw milk products to the consumer. For us, for the whole team, this award is appreciation and recognition of our work.

It is more gratifying to see that the company’s hard work done last year is appreciated this year. And I want to tell you that 2022 was quite challenging for Shiraqi. Due to a shortage of raw milk, it was difficult for us to meet the demand for raw milk products for some time, but we successfully overcame this obstacle and even became a recognized producer company this year.

Q. How has Shiraqi been developing on the Georgian market over the years?

A. Founded in 2006, Shiraqi was first involved in milk collection and over the years has grown into a large producer of dairy products. This success was based on the experience and knowledge of my and our company’s employees in various training programs that we did in Europe and America. Successful and growing farms I saw abroad had a great impact on my plans. In 2013, we laid the foundation on the Shiraqi farm.

Q. Please introduce us to the whole production cycle of Shiraqi, as you said ⁠— “from field to table”.

A. We produce Shiraqi raw milk products with 100% local raw milk.

We have our own dairy farm of high-yielding Holstein cattle, who are fed mainly with food grown in our farm. We also collect milk and import raw milk from other high-yielding dairy farms.

We have raw milk collection points in Kakheti and Kvemo Kartli regions.

Q. Golden Brand survey showed Shiraqi is Georgian customers’ favorite cheese producing company, but what are the best-selling products according to sales data?

A. Imeruli cheese Extra and sulguni, Georgian Cheese, smoked sulguni, matsoni, cottage cheese are among the top-selling products of Shiraqi.

Speaking of sulguni, I want to mention that Shiraqi sulguni was the winner at the blind tasting of EBIARD/FAO and the Ministry of Agriculture in 2018, 2019 and 2021. Georgia patented sulguni cheese according to Shiraqi’s internal standard of sulguni-making.

Overall, due to the increase in the price of raw milk, the prices of raw milk products were high last year, but in spite of this our sales were stable.

Georgia’s most stylish and top-service casino, Shanrgi La, is continuing to develop on the Georgian market with the opening of a new branch in the country’s Black Sea resort city of Batumi.