The Conflict Between Georgian and Foreign Ski Instructors in Gudauri

- 50-year-old Anzor Bedoidze is a resident of Bedoni village of Dusheti municipality. He has four children. The family’s income is based on his salary for being an instructor in Gudauri. Young people from the villages of Mtiuleti - Bedoni, Mleta, Arakhveti, Seturi, Kvesheti, Jagmiani, Zakatkari, Kaishauri, Fasanauri, Gudauri, Khadi valley, Kazbegi worked as paragliders at all times of the year, and about 70 young people were employed as ski instructors in winter.

The mountain-ski resort Gudauri is one of the most sought-after destinations for tourists in Georgia. In the winter season of 2018-2019, mountain resorts of Georgia had 603,253 customers, the largest share of which comes from Gudauri.

On July 29, 2022, after the border police-owned helicopter crashed during a rescue operation in Gudauri and all eight people on board died, the Minister of Internal Affairs of Georgia banned paragliding in Gudauri but throughout Georgia. More than 250 paragliders remained unemployed, and at least a hundred worked in Gudauri. Many of them, who had experience in ski sports and completed the first level training course too, tried to continue working as ski instructors.

This year, the ski season in Gudauri opened on January 11. As a result of artificial snowmaking, only two ski routes are functional. Due to the lack of snow, there are relatively few visitors at the resort but many instructors. The conflict between Georgian and foreign coaches, which intensified, but did not start this year, came to the media’s attention and even reached Australia.

ABC NEWS, which has more than 4 million followers on Facebook and is said to be Australia’s most trusted media organization, reports that dozens of foreigners, including some Australians, have been barred from working at an Eastern European ski resort.

Every time one of the international community of instructors has tried to take a lesson, they have been harassed to the extent that they can’t teach their lesson. They’re physically intimidating us, threatening us, trying to take away our lift passes, trying to remove our ski equipment, and stopping us from being able to teach our clients. In the last few days, the situation has continued to get worse,”.

ABC Quotes Tristram Todd, one of the ski school’s chief instructors. He is not optimistic there would be a positive solution for the around 100 foreign instructors at the ski field.

ABC writes that the international ski instructors at Gudauri approached local police but said it had not helped the situation.

They also sent a letter to the Georgian embassies in their home countries and their embassies in Georgia. “All of us here are concerned that despite possessing a legal right to work and having internationally recognized qualifications, we will be unable to guarantee our safety if we continue to work in this country.”

In the video published on January 14, the Polish instructor says that the Georgians blocked the entrance to the gondola and did not let him in. It can be seen from the video that the foreign instructors turned to the nearby patrol police for help:

Instructor: I’m sorry, I’m being scolded (addresses in English).

Policeman: Speak in Russian.

Instructor: I can speak to you in English, an international language.

Policeman: Speak in Russian.

Instructor: I also speak Russian. (starts talking in Russian) The boys attacked me there, near the gondola. There were 4-5 people.

Policeman: What did they tell you? Did they hit you?

According to the second episode, the foreign instructor tells the Georgians, who do not let him go to the gondola, that he has paid for the ski pass, registered as an entrepreneur at the House of Justice, rented an apartment, and wants to work.

- You can go up and ski alone, the Georgian instructor says.

- Yes, but what is the problem? I mean, working here.

- You can go up and ski alone, is that clear?

- And what will happen if I go with clients?

- You cannot work here.

- Why? Could you explain it to me? I have legal permission from the government, the House of Justice. So you have to obey the rules.”

Eliot Berkowitz, who brings tourists from Israel to Georgia, writes on the social network that “local gangs attack him and prevent any non-local ski instructor from doing his their job.”

“Gudauri ski resort is one of my favorite places to ski worldwide. The Georgian authorities and police know the problems there but do nothing. Their response is, “you need a local instructor license to teach here,” and “we cannot control the actions of individuals.” The government does not allow any non-citizens to take the exam. Therefore, they will only get international licenses, which everyone has. I spoke to the “Mountain Trails Agency” administration, and they say they can’t do anything. Cops hug local gang members and don’t do anything to prevent the violation.

In general, with my numerous ski tours, I bring about 500,000 US dollars annually to Gudauri and Georgia’s economy. Also, SkiDeal sends hundreds of guests. What do they have in common? They cannot speak Georgian and need an instructor who knows English or Hebrew. Among the local instructors, perhaps 10 speak English. Without foreign instructors and a sense of security, I would be forced to do my business elsewhere. “I don’t think it’s good for the economy to suddenly lose thousands of guests, especially when billions have been spent on building the resorts.”

We asked the Ministry of Internal Affairs whether an investigation has been started on the incidents that happened in Gudauri. We did not receive an answer from the Ministry; however, on January 18, after these facts were publicized in the media, Gudauri police interviewed several participants of the incident.

“Our only duty is to cable cars and ski tracks” - this is the position of the Mountain trails Agency. The agency belongs to the Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development.

Shalva Abramishvili, who has been managing the ski school “Gudaura” for the fourth year and currently has 10 Georgian instructors, considers lack of control as the main reason for the problem at the resort.

“We are 150 Georgian instructors in Gudauri, a number of foreigners are the same. More than a hundred foreign instructors were added to the resort at the same time. There is quite a large influx from Israel and Russia. The Russian school brought in its instructors, brought in the equipment, they also prepare the food themselves; they have a driver from Russia, and they only have a rented house. What does our country benefit from? They don’t even employ anyone. They have more resources in terms of advertising; they have websites, and they spend more money on social networks. The daily salary of an instructor in Gudauri is from 300 to 500 GEL. That’s why they come. They do not agree to anyone’s qualifications or pay taxes.

It’s not that foreign instructors should not work in Gudauri, but because nothing is controlled and the state does not hold anyone responsible, Georgian instructors found themselves in a non-competitive environment against more foreign instructors and schools with more resources. People started fighting for their rights to survive.

The solution is to be regulated by legislation.”

The new law on tourism, which the parliament has not yet begun to discuss, introduces a number of regulations in the tourism sector. It becomes mandatory to register the subjects of tourist activities in the register of economic activities, including guides. Mountain, ski, and alpine guides can no longer serve tourists without certification. Only persons with an official badge will have the right to work as a tourist guide in the places defined by the government’s decree. A person cannot get this certificate if he does not have a document confirming his qualifications. The bill envisages fines of up to 3000 GEL for violation of established requirements.