Mikheil Saakashvili attended the annual Award Ceremony in Cannes. Georgia won in three nominations of the Academy. Based on the decision of organizers, the Autonomous Republic of Adjara became the owner of the Five Star Diamond. The founders of the American Academy made the decision after visiting Batumi and registering local impressions.
The Adjara region received the most prestigious award, the Five Star Diamond based on the studies in various categories and criteria. Batumi received an award for being the best new resort city. The Adjara Autonomous Region received an award because of its investor friendly environment and Levan Varshalomidze received an award for his innovative leadership.
The Mayor of Batumi and the Minister of Economy of Adjara attended the award ceremony. The President of Georgia addressed the guests and the participants of the official ceremony. Mikheil Saakashvili spoke about the tourism potential of the country, the importance of the current projects and the idea of the new city – Lazika.
“I’m incredibly honored to be here with all of you. This place is very special, because if any other place reminds me of Batumi, it is Cannes and Nice. But this is also a historic place of amazing development and amazing change within the last five years. So, we developed the city of Batumi and we developed the town of Anaklia, with its white sand beaches. It’s just like Nice and Cannes, because they are almost the same distance from each other. Basically, Batumi is like urban Nice and Cannes is characterized by its boulevard similar to the slightly longer one in Anaklia. We are now developing a new town called Lazika, with a new, grand design, to bolster our economic and touristic potential. We are building it near the ski resort in Mestia, where you can actually ski all summer long. I took Alberto Tomba there—who, by the way, is planning to open a school in his name—in August to ski. Then we drove an hour and a half down from the mountains and dove into the Black Sea, which was very warm at that time. – stated the President of Georgia during his official address.
Mikheil Saakashvili later made a comment before the representatives of the media regarding the importance of the award of the American Academy. According to him, Batumi received one of the most prestigious awards in the tourism sphere, which will attract more tourists and investors and create more opportunities for the local population.
“All of this basically means is that Georgia has established itself on the world map and our cities are recognized. This guarantees our economic progress and makes us more secure. This is the reality that everyone, but one country, recognizes” – noted the President.
During the Cannes award ceremony the representatives of the American Academy introduced Batumi in a fairly original way. During the presentation, the host of the ceremony introduced the quotes about Batumi from the world media to the audience: “Batumi is developing so rapidly that it can make China blush” – as Time magazine said. This beautiful city mixes the taste of the sea and sun, magnolias and acacias. Batumi is attractive during any time of the year. Whoever visits this city once will fill up with incredible energy and will stay in love with Batumi forever” - the host began the traditional ceremony with these words. Georgia became a nominee and a winner for the first time.
Aside from Georgia, the representatives of Maldives and Lugano became the recipients of the Five Star Diamond. Leonardo Ferragamo received the success award from the American Academy.
The American Academy awards the successful countries, companies and representatives of various service sectors of the tourist market. The award of the American Academy is considered one of the most prestigious awards worldwide in the tourism sphere.