Weather and climate information and forecasts of extreme climatic conditions provided by National Meteorological and Hydrological Services are becoming increasingly important for ecotourism. Climate change poses an increased risk to the functionality of ecotourism facilities. Thus, the government and the private sector should pay particular attention to the management and application of climate information, the inclusion of climate factors in ecotourism and in ecotourism development policies. This requires effective coordination between environmental and tourism organizations, especially between WMO and WTO. Further research in the field of tourism will be critical to ensure the effective implementation of tourism safety in the country. For the tourism business, weather and climate information and forecasting of extreme climate events developed by National Meteorological and Hydrological Services are gaining in importance, given that the programming of many tourism activities is highly climate dependent and ecotourism insurance practices are highly dependent on natural disasters.

The Coronavirus along with other sectors of the economy, has caused great damage to the tourism sector and related industries. The number of international tourists decreased by 0.7% in February 2020 compared to 2019. The decrease in the number of visitors has affected the restaurant business, airlines, shopping and catering establishments. In 2020 with the period before the pandemic, the number of employees in hotels throughout Georgia decreased by 17 000 people. According to the statistical data the increase was recorded in the 2nd quarter of 2022. The same trends were observed in the research region in particular in Imereti in 2019. In the mentioned sector by 2020, 2536 people were employed and their number decreased to 1725. By 2021 a slight increase was recorded in amount to 1745 people. In 2021, the highest rate of domestic visitors was recorded, both in the country as a whole and in the regions that exceeded the pre-pandemic period. An increase of 34 000 was recorded in Imereti alone, and the increases of 314 000 in the country as a whole. It were caused by broader crossing restrictions. Although, the income from international tourism decreased significantly during the research period, the opposite result was observed in the case of local visitors, the expense within the country increased significantly and reached 226 million GEL, higher than the same period before the pandemic with is 73,5 million GEL. In post-pandemic conditions, tourism and its separate sector are being revitalized, both in Georgia and in the world as a whole. According to the National Tourism Agency the number of visitors to Georgia in 2022 is promising. In March 2022 211 484 visitors arrived, which is 210,6% higher than the previous years and comprises 48,5% of March of 2019. Difficulties arose in the process of renewal of work in the tourism sector of Georgia. Domestic tourism resumed on schedule, but resumption of international travel was delayed. From June 8, 2021, hotels were allowed to resume operations; Intercity transport was restored. The railway resumed operations on June 15. The final phase of the opening of domestic tourism was marked by the resumption of domestic flights from July 24. On July 8, Georgia opened its borders to 5 European countries (Germany, France, Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia). The mutual unconditional opening of the borders with the mentioned countries was caused by the fact that Georgia was included in the list of 15 safe countries for travel published by the European Union on June 30. To date, the flow of passengers in all three international airports of Georgia has almost equaled the period before the pandemic, in particular, according to the data of the 8th month of 2022, Kutaisi airport recorded a 95% recovery of the same period of 2019, Batumi airport - 94%, and Tbilisi airport - 74%. In 2022, the rapid recovery of the tourism sector began everywhere, including Georgia. An accelerated pace of tourism recovery has been observed in our country since May 2022. In the first half of 2019, compared to 2019, a 56.8% increase in tourist visits was recorded, and in June-August, a 78.7% increase. Tourism revenues recovered faster, in particular, in the first half of 2022, 78.3% growth, and 123.6% growth was recorded in July-August, which is explained by the influx of migrants and high inflation. It was observed, which is explained by the influx of migrants and high inflation. At the same time, hotel revenues recovered faster in the regions than in the capital, one of the reasons being the increase in domestic tourism. The pandemic reduced the interest of investors, which slowed down the construction process of medium and large hotels. As a result of the research conducted by JSC Bank of Georgia group "Galt & Taggart", a forecast is made that by the end of 2022, tourism will be fully restored to the pre-pandemic level, and by 2023, a 10% increase will be recorded. In addition, the tourism sector of Georgia should focus on the development of such high-income destinations as - wine, winter. Resort and MICE tourism development (Tourism Review, 2022). Hopefully, the above-mentioned trends will increase the flow of visitors and their spending, not only in the country as a whole, but also in individual regions, including Imereti. Together, everything will contribute to overcoming the economic crisis caused by the pandemic.

The coronavirus has caused an economic crisis not only directly in the tourism sector, but also in areas directly and indirectly related to it. Capital turnover decreased from 2089.1 million to 690.1 million compared to the previous 2019. In February 2020 alone, the number of international tourists decreased by 0.7% compared to the same period last year. The decrease in tourists was reflected in the restaurant business, the turnover of shopping facilities, etc. Compared to 2019, the number of employees in hotels and restaurants alone has decreased by more than 18 thousand people. A significant decrease was also observed in the Imereti region. Corona virus COVID-19 poses a significant threat to both the global and regional economies. Today, the negative impact of the pandemic on the world economy has become irreversible. It is impossible to make an accurate forecast in today’s rapidly changing environment. The first case of kovidivirus in Georgia was detected on February 26, 2020, and already in March the visible effects of the pandemic began to be detected:  Increased demands on products;  The inevitable rise in unemployment;  Reduction of international remittances;  A sharp decrease in the flow of foreign tourists, etc. Recently, tourism has become one of the leading sectors of our country's economy, accounting for 11% of Georgia's GDP. The number of visitors in 2019 exceeded 9.3 million, which was 7.8% more than in the previous 2018, the increase was visible every year. With this in mind, the number of visitors was expected to increase to 10 million by 2020. The coronavirus has dealt one of the biggest blows to world tourism and caused an economic crisis. Georgia is no exception. The aim of our paper is to determine based on a comparative analysis of statistical materials provided by Geostat, the Agency of Protected Areas and the National Tourism Administration how much the Covid virus has changed the expected results in the tourism sector as a whole in the country and in the Imereti region. COVID-19 has had the most negative impact on the tourism industry precisely because of closed borders and fears of travel. According to the analysis of the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), which considers the SARS scenario of the pandemic in 2003 as a potential model, world tourism should expect a 1-3% decrease in visitors, while according to the forecast made in 2019, the number of visitors in 2020 is 3-4% Should increase global tourism to a total loss of $ 30-50 billion (UNCTAD, 2020: 9.03). The global tourism crisis has had a big impact on Georgia as well, already in February 2020 the number of international tourists decreased by 0.7% compared to the same period last year. However, during the same period, there was a certain increase in some countries, in particular, a 161.5% increase was observed in tourists from Estonia in February. Significant increase in tourist flow was also observed from other EU countries: Poland - 84.8%. Italy - 81.2%, France - 52.4% and Germany - 38%. Since travel restrictions have already been extended to virtually all countries, including neighboring Azerbaijan and Armenia, the impact on the tourism sector has clearly increased. Closed borders and travel restrictions will hurt Georgia's tourism sector and likely slow down the market diversification process. To assess the scale of the economic impact, it should be noted that according to official data for 2018, 44,663 people were employed in hotels and restaurants alone; In 2019, there were 48,634, the same data as 38,661 people in the first quarter of 2020, which decreased to 30,215 people in the second quarter. That is, compared to 2019, the number of employees in hotels and restaurants alone has decreased by more than 18 thousand people. And capital turnover decreased from 2089.1 million to 690.1 million compared to the previous 2019 (data for 2 quarters of 2020). The same data in the Imereti region in 2019 amounted to 2536 people. There is also a significant decrease in the number of visitors to protected areas. Analyzing the statistical materials of the Agency of Protected Areas, we find that 112612 visitors (including 21176 foreigners) visited the Protected Areas of Georgia during the first 7 months of 2020, the same figure was 1,199,011 for 2019, ie only 11.6 % of the total number of visitors in the previous year. If we take into account the fact that in previous years the number of visitors in the first five included 3 protected areas from Imereti - Prometheus Cave, Sataplia and Okatse Canyon this year only Prometheus Cave entered the top five and it is in the third place with 10,581 visitors. In 2019, it was visited by 184,264 visitors. The situation is the same in Okatse Canyon last year it hosted more than 92 thousand visitors, this year only 52 96 (instead of the projected 100 000 visitors), Sataplia visited 6002 visitors in 7 months in 7 months, the same figure in 2019 was 741988 visitors. The number of visits to the above facilities alone shows how big the difference is in the number of visitors of the past and present years. Added to this are the indirectly related sectors of tourism, which clearly shows the economic crisis in the tourism sector of Imereti. It is hoped that the corona virus COVID-19 will soon be overcome in the world, including Georgia, and will start economic progress, including in the tourism sector. It is also encouraging that National Geographic, one of the most influential travel publications in the world, has named Georgia, Svaneti region, among the top 25 destinations in the world in 2021, which tourists should visit in the post-pandemic period. The American travel magazine "Thrillist" describes the 13 best countries, where it advises American citizens to live, in which it names Georgia among the popular tourist countries. The journalist of the publication recommends using the project "Work from Georgia" to come to Georgia. The Georgian government has eased visa requirements for participants in the project, and with the new "Work from Georgia" program, foreigners can work remotely from Georgia and spend a full year in the country, earning at least $ 2,000 a month. - The author of the article writes and notes that Georgia attracts travelers to the Caucasus Mountains, Georgian cuisine, wine and affordable prices (nationalgeographic, 2020). According to the National Tourism Administration, up to 1,100 citizens from different countries were registered within the framework of the project "Work from Georgia" from August 27 to October 25. Hopefully, more travelers will be interested in this project, they will come to Georgia, including the Imereti region, which will at least partially improve the economic situation in the country's tourism sector.

Today, in the development of the tourism industry, it is important to create an innovative environment, manage processes and implement them in practice. The process of tourism growth poses new challenges for researchers. In the article, we discussed the importance of cluster economic models for the development of regional tourism in Georgia. We analyzed the sustainability characteristics of the cluster environment and discussed the experience of European countries on the example of tourism clusters. The importance of tourism clusters is a good opportunity to form a competitive regional tourism industry that includes all elements of the cluster, and the principle of tourism cluster formation is one of the opportunities to achieve sustainability. In the regions, less attention is paid to the issues of sustainability of tourist destinations. Spatial-regional aspects of tourism management should increasingly take into account the issues of sustainability of tourist complexes and its assessment. Among economists, it is unequivocally recognized that the regions on the territories of which the cluster is formed become the leaders of economic development. The level of economic growth of the territory of the region depends on the development of tourism business clusters. Cluster formation involves a group of functionally related economic entities that are located territorially close to each other and create a competitive advantage based on their proximity and contacts. The methodological basis of the work is qualitative and statistical research methods, data analysis, processing of analytical material presented in open sources, complex assessment of tourism development resources in the tourist cluster.

Imereti -is one of the smallest region on the Black Sea coast in Georgia. The geographical location, historicalcultural and natural monuments, the rich Imeretian hospitality traditions are a good prerequisite for the development of recreation and tourism. Imereti region is a growing tourist segment. For more than 900 historical and more than 350 natural monuments continuously presents the rich history of the country from the primitive societies until nowadays. Myths and legends related to Imereti ( Colchis kingdom, myth about Amirani (Prometheus), Golden Fleece, King Aetees and Medea and etc.) are well-known for the Western society. The work done for the popularization of these tourist products has greatly contributed to the growth of both organized and unorganized tourism. (80,000 men in 2007, in 2017 -more than 450,000).Today, tourism in Georgia is developing at a fast pace. Natural and historic monuments are the "Golden Keys" of the tourism potential of the region. We believe that tourism is a stimulus for the development of the local economy, and it should facilitate for staying of youth in the small towns by creating different jobs in order not to leave their country and therefore alienate from their national identities and culture.