Since the beginning of XXI Century when the Rose Revolution took place in Georgia tourism was declared as important and strategic for the country s development. Appropriate steps were undertaken, which were followed by almost immediate results. The industry started developing since 2004 in a progressive manner (See. Figure 17). However, tourism development in some cases may have drawbacks, such as, negative influence on natural resources, culture, lifestyle of local population, which is a deviation from sustainable values. Thus, the main idea of the PhD thesis is to study the role of tourism in socio-economic changes in two remote mountainous regions of Georgia Bakuriani and Kazbegi and evaluate tourism development with regards to tourism development sustainability principles. Information from research units was collected by means of quantitative questionnaire and face-to-face in-depth interview guidelines. A specifically designed questionnaire was used to get information about demographics, socio-economic, agricultural and touristic activities of the households. Face-to-face in-depth interviews ensured qualitative information from experts, guesthouse owners and tourists.A different profile of research regions strongly determines a different role of tourism for Bakuriani and Kazbegi. Because it is a four-season resort, households in Bakuriani have more potential to choose tourism as their main activity and leave less effort for agriculture and farming. In Kazbegi the situation is different. As it is mainly a one-season resort, local households try to diversify their sources of income developing farming and agriculture while being involved in tourism. As a result, households in Bakuriani have less obstacles for tourism development and they choose tourism instead of farming and agriculture, while in Kazbegi these activities are led in symbiosis. Analysis of qualitative and quantitative data shows that in spite of the fact that tourism plays an important role for both regions, most guesthouses do not invest in their tourism business development and if they do, the main source would be family savings, as bank loans are very expensive. According to research, infrastructure and economic environment tend to serve as the main obstacle for tourism development and both research regions face these issues.Discussing qualitative and quantitative findings with regards to twelve aims for sustainable tourism development serves as a special feature of the research. This approach gives the possibility to structure all data according to twelve aims and find which processes do not meet sustainability requirements. Various types of analysis show that the role of tourism industry in socio-economic processes is important in Kazbegi and Bakuriani but it differs according to regions based on their specifications. Households in both research regions use agricultural activities, mainly, for subsistence and, in some cases, for their tourism business. Special and targeted programs should be dedicated to each research region in order to maximise their potential for tourism services and agricultural activities keeping in mind all the aspects of sustainability.
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