This brief research note describes the current situation regarding religiously based heritage tourism and pilgrimage in Georgia. Heritage in Georgia is almost synonymous with religious heritage. Few countries in the world possess such an intensity of built religious patrimony in a small territory as the foundations of their heritage tourism sector as Georgia does. Georgia is already an increasingly popular destination, but owing to its important religious history, the multitude of ancient churches and holy relics at home there, and the inseparable mix of religious and natural heritagescapes, the country has the potential to develop further in three areas of heritage tourism: domestic pilgrimage; international pilgrimage among Orthodox Christians from Eastern Europe and countries of the former USSR; and non-religious cultural tourists from all over the world.

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This chapter describes the events associated with the August 2008 conflict between the Republic of Georgia and Russia and its effects on the natural and cultural tourism resources of Georgia. The chapter provides a case study about many of the devastating effects of war on tourism and suggests future directions for creating more peaceful relations that will be more conducive for developing tourism in the Caucasus.

The study shows the involvement of private businesses in the tourism industry. It has covered the research of hotels, guesthouses and travel agencies, which was carried out in 2016 by The International Center for Caucasus Tourism (ICCT). The aim of the study was to determine the level of tourists' satisfaction during their visits to Georgia: whether they were happy or not (if not, why?) with services in Georgia, whether they liked the tourist sites and how they evaluated the potential of tourism situation. All materials and data are stored in the ICCT archives.

This paper considers the current economic indicators of agritourism and forecasts of the world leading institutions and local research organizations regarding the present condition and perspectives of the economics and agritourism. The work pays particular attention to the tools of the environmental and tourism study policy, whose deficit causes significant delays in the growth and development processes of agritourism and the need to increase the involvement of local people in decision-making by municipalities to strengthen their capacity. The study’s main contribution is to identify the gaps in the agritourism development in Georgia (in relation to its sub-goals and lack of tools) and develop the measures to eliminate them. Keywords: Agritourism; post-pandemic period; rural tourism; sustainable development.