Speleotourism Potential in Imereti Region on the Example of Tetra Cave

Abstract

With speleotourism potential, Imereti region is an outstanding region throughout the country. Effective, reasonable utilization of the mentioned resource can bring significant economic and social benefits. From the point of view of tourist motivation, modern speleotourism is divided into 3 main directions: extreme, spectacular and healing tourism. Imereti region has the opportunity to develop all three speleotourism destinations. As for the speleotourism potential of Tetra cave, along with extreme and spectacular destinations, it is also interesting from the point of view of speleotherapy. In general, healing speleotourism is related to the unique microclimatic conditions of caves: particularly dry or humid air, constant temperature, concentration of mineral salts. The air of Tetra Cave is characterized by high, negative ionization and a relatively high background of natural radioactivity, these properties give it important healing properties and provide the opportunity for the development of speleotherapy.