Summer in Abkhazia

I travelled to Abkhazia from Russia twice in August.  Usually when I arrive in Abkhazia, I use the pedestrian border crossing.   On the first of the two trips, I crossed mid-morning on a Monday.  There was a striking difference from my first travels there 4 years ago.  This time there were hundreds of people in line.  Most had come a great distance in Russia for their summer holidays on the beach in Abkhazia. 

 The vehicle crossing was even busier;  there was a line of buses over a mile long from cities like Stavropol and Krassnodar.  

At the border and the train station there were dozens of people offering rooms for rent in the modest guest homes that have sprung up in Gagra, Alahadze, Pitdunda and other towns.  In Abkhazia, there are no credit card clearing systems and hospitality has no real web presence.   So, tourists use a travel agency to find a room or book it themselves on arrival.  The system clearly has its flaws; I had reserved a room in Gagra on a previous trip, but the owner had sold it to someone else who showed up with cash because there was no way for me to financially reserve the room.  

Four years ago, there were only a fraction of the guest houses that are available now.  Everywhere, I saw signs of expansion.  Homes were being converted or expanded to meet the crush of tourists.  however, it seems clear to me that this is only an intermediate step on the way to real development of hospitality in Ablkhazia.  When compared with Antalya, Turkey, for instance, Abkhazia has many advantages to Russian tourists.  It is a much more beautiful environment, everyone speaks Russian and it is closer to home.  Russia's President Medvedev made a trip to Abkhazia between my visits and mentioned the same issue.  When 3,4 and 5 star resorts are built in Abkhazia, there will be escalation of Abkhazia's recent rapid growth in tourism.