Photo by Temur Gugushvili
Abstract
The main purpose of the article is to analyse the peculiarities of tourism development and linkages between tourism sector and other branches of economy, especially agriculture, in the selected areas of Kazbegi Municipality - the town of Stepantsminda and villages of Sno and Juta. The research is focused on the socioeconomic aspects of tourism development, in particular, tourism services provided by local communities with emphasis on the influence of the family farming to the visitors’ outlook with reference to the local agricultural products. It is notable that participant observation of stakeholders and in-depth interviews with native and inbound tourists was used to study the current stage and potential of the host communities in terms of tourism development. Based on the research we argue that the observed rapid growth of tourist sector in the areas under investigation triggers economic growth, however the development is still fragmented and incomplete, as other branches of economy like agriculture, trade, etc., that should be connected to tourism activities, do not enjoy the expected growth. The research combines innovative and well established methodological approach for collecting and analysing qualitative data with help of MAXQDA and MAXApp.