On December 18, 2020, during an online meeting, an agreement was signed to hold the tenth Annual Advisory Forum on Cultural Routes of the Council of Europe 2021 in Kutaisi, Georgia. The online signing ceremony was attended by Mr. Levan Kharatishvili, Deputy Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sport of Georgia; Mr. Ioseb Khakhaleishvili, Mayor of Kutaisi Municipality and Mr. Stefano Dominioni, Executive Secretary of the Enlarged Partial Agreement on Cultural Routes (EPA) and Director of the European Institute of Cultural Routes (EICR). Ms. Natalia Vutova, Director of the Council of Europe Office in Georgia, assisted as an honorary guest.

The tenth Annual Advisory Forum will be held from September 29 to October 1, 2021. This large-scale international forum is the most important event of the Cultural Routes Program. It enables the reunion of Member States representatives, Cultural Routes operators, candidate networks to the certification, international cultural heritage and tourism organizations as well as local and regional authorities to discuss trends and challenges in relation to new and certified Cultural Routes.

According to Mayor Ioseb Khakhaleishvili, the city of Kutaisi looks very much forward to this high-level event: “We are given a unique opportunity to position our city on various international platforms. We must make the most of these opportunities and host a forum in which up to 300 experts from 47 countries will participate.”

In 2016 Georgia became the 27th Member State of The Enlarged Partial Agreement on Cultural Routes of the Council of Europe (EPA) and has established its own Board for Strategic Development and Certification of Cultural Routes of Georgia, an advisory body of the Ministry to support the development of local Cultural Routes.

Currently, Georgia is crossed by five certified Cultural Routes of the Council of Europe: Iter Vitis, The European Route of Jewish Heritage, European Route of Historical Thermal Towns, Prehistoric Rock Art Trails and European Route of Historic Gardens.