The nation of Georgia was an unseen casualty of the break-up of the USSR: The once glamorous vacation destination was crippled by civil wars, and no province was hit worst than the Black Sea coastal state of Abkhazia. But tourists are trickling back to its beachside resorts, according to an article in the Christian Science Monitor which revisits the country that's as well known in eastern Europe as it is unknown in the US.
Russian tourists go to the Black Sea for the same reasons Americans go to Florida: It's warm, there's a lot of water and you don't need a passport. Abkhazia is technically still divided between local separatists and Russian troops--in fact, officials blamed two recent bombings on Georgian police who they say wanted to discourage tourism--but hotel owners hope to eventually draw back the estimated 6 million tourists who used to vacation here.
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· Abkhazia's Tourism Fights to Regain Fabled Legacy [Christian Science Monitor]
· Russian Starlets Settle in Sochi [Jaunted]
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[Photo: antecanis]]]>