Tourism is one of the priority sectors of the Autonomous Republic of Adjara. The country has a significant legislative regulatory framework to promote the development of tourism in the country. The article deals with the Decree of the Government of Georgia, issued in 2015, on the procedure for granting the status of an enterprise to a tourist enterprise, as well as its operation and cancellation, the concessive initiatives of which are based on the Tax Code of Georgia. Objects with this status have become a profitable source of income and means of living for non-residents and for construction business - it is the easiest way to attract investments. Hotels apartments could find easily their niche in the consumer market.

With the current trends in tourism development and competition in the world, the growth of the tourism market in the Autonomous Republic of Adjara faces certain challenges. Positioning Adjara as a maritime tourist destination is becoming less attractive for tourists. Based on the situational analysis we have identified the existing and new tourism markets and products that in the intermediate-term perspective will enable the growth of tourists and the development of tourism in the region during all four seasons. Based on the expert method and factorial analysis, we assessed the risks of rural and mountain tourism development, which appear to be of the biggest interest of the existing and the new markets. We have ignored the risks that emerge in the macroenvironment and put our focus on the risks that should be overcome by all interested parties, in particular the industry of hospitality and the local government. As the results of the research reveal, rural and mountain tourism development is related to high risk and, according to the risk matrix, the highest risk factors include road and transport infrastructure, tourism and supplementary infrastructure, communal infrastructure and problems associated with the quality of service.

Ajara Autonomous Republic, both within the country and in the world tourist market, has always been positioned as a maritime tourist destination. However, over recent years diversification of tourist products and appealing new market segments have become one of the main priorities of the tourism development strategy of Ajara Autonomous Republic. As a result, the government is creating an appropriate tourist infrastructure, especially in rural areas to support developing such tourist products as adventure and eco-tourism. Adventure tourism can deliver significant benefits at the local level and it is a developing segment in Ajara. Creating adventure tourism products requires integration of various interdependent services. A tourism value chain is defined as a system that describes the cooperation of private and state sectors in providing resources, which creates costs and adds value through various processes and delivers final products to visitors. The purpose of the research was to determine weak links in the value chain and creating a comprehensive value chain model to form the competitive adventure tourism product. The research involved all actors, which operate in the tourism sector. Based on the results of the survey, in the value chain, the food link turned out to be the weakest, whereas the accommodation with the highest share was distinguished in the visitor spending structure. Overall, the cost of the adventure tour will be affordable for both international and domestic tourists. At this stage, government support and participation are crucial in the formation of adventure tourism infrastructure. Through using the case study and qualitative research methods, we tried to identify challenges to the growth of adventure tourism in Ajara and developed recommendations to overcome these challenges.