English-Georgian explanatory dictionary of tourism terms (2006)

The English-Georgian Explanatory Dictionary of Tourism Terms includes the terms and phrases (about 7.000 items) of tourism and such related fields, as: insurance, traffic, accommodation, attractions, catering, travel, cultural and natural monuments; ecology; tourism industry; tourism infrastructure; tourist service; tourist arrangements; professions, training and employment in the field of tourism; tourism sectors; tourism economy; tourism legislation; tourism policy; tourism advertisement, etc.

The dictionary also includes appendices, which can be widely used by tourism practitioners, scientists, teachers and students, as well as any person interested in tourism. The appendices include: universally used abbreviations; permanent international tourist exhibitions; codes of cities and international airports; codes of airlines; local time in capitals worldwide; world currencies (coins and ISO codes); list of hotel-networks worldwide (web-sites); international holidays, festivals, carnivals (web-sites); Georgian resorts (resources and curative capacities); religious buildings of Tbilisi (all confessions; list of addresses); Georgian architectural monuments in cities and regions of Georgia (for each monument, the administrative center and distance from Tbilisi is given), etc.

British Library Integrated Catalog

Foreword

The major problems of the economic development arise due to the lack of the unitary terminology and need for correct understanding and definition of the necessary terms and syntagms.

Present-day Georgian tourism suffers a number of hardships. However, it has gained recognition worldwide and its development is based on clear industrial objectives. The development of tourism in Georgia depends to a large extent on the elaboration of unitary terms and definitions compatible with the English analogues. Both internationally and locally, the sector of tourism largely depends on information, which is necessary for the elaboration of policy and steady development of tourism.  Recently, the quantity of information about the industry of tourism has increased throughout the world. Electronic documentation systems in the given field have developed to a great extent. Correspondingly, the demand of customers for available information has increased.

The present book aims at obtaining certain data necessary for the encouragement of exchange and creation of the unitary language in the tourism field both in Georgia and internationally. The author has undergone certain difficulties herself while working on her original and translated manuals on tourism. The difficulties were caused by the lack of appropriate terms and absence of the appropriate dictionary in the given field. The author hopes that the given dictionary will facilitate the work of her colleagues.

The English-Georgian Explanatory Dictionary of Tourism Terms has been compiled based on the universal experience and close collaboration with Georgian and foreign experts in the given sector.

It should be stressed that the present book is the first attempt of compiling an explanatory dictionary of tourism in Georgia as well as worldwide. The author intends to revise and update the book on a regular basis, so that it reflects the evolution of tourism terms and finds proper Georgian terms in this field.

Unlike dictionaries published abroad, the given book gives definitions of all the economic terms that are directly or indirectly linked with the sector of tourism. The author supposes that the synthesis of these specific and universal attitudes will represent tourism as a complex of sectors.

The author views tourism not as a separate field, but as a semantic axis, which unites several semantic fields. This enables the reader to fully evaluate each element of the ample lexical material. This approach to the phenomenon of tourism has enabled the author to select terms from the following tourism-related activities: Insurance; Transportation; Expositions and trade-fairs; Accommodation; Entertainment (attractions); Food; Science and information; Traveling; World geography (countries and groups of countries); Health care; Cultural and natural monuments; Sports fields; Professionals of tourism; Trainings and employment; Tourism industry; The infrastructure of tourism; Tourist service; Tourist activities; The sectors of tourism; The ecology of the tourism sector; The economy of the tourism sector; The legislation of the tourism sector; The policy of the tourism sector; Advertising and promotion of tourism.

The book is based on the existing dictionaries of tourism and service, recently published abroad. However, the given book is not a mere translation. Rapid evolution of tourism demands precise understanding of the terms and constant updating of their content. These factors were taken into account while working on the collected material.

The methodology aimed at avoiding the automatic Georgian translation of the terms or their direct usage. Therefore, the terms taken from the existing dictionaries were often changed, taking into consideration the given period and the peculiarities of a given country. Yet, the author based her work on the definitions adopted by the World Tourism Organization. The dictionary is meant both for professionals and non-professionals. It can be used by every person interested in tourism and traveling.

The chief difficulty while defining the terms in the specific field is to determine the quantity of information. This quantity should embrace the words and phrases which constitute the language of the given field. The following questions arise in this relation:

_   Should we adopt a narrow, clearly outlined concept of tourism, which systematically excludes all that is non-specific to the given field?

or

_   Should we adopt a broader concept of tourism, which integrates tourism into such fields as economics, heredity, culture, sociology, law, politics, etc. Should tourism be viewed as a `Rubric“or `Aspect“ of various types of activities?

The above problem is less acute in the field of specialized technical activities where the contours of the field are easy to define and where the vocabulary is restricted. Contrary to this, it is very difficult to outline the contours of tourism, since its aspects and its related fields are much broader than tourism itself.  In fact, tourism is interlinked with other social activities of broader scale. If we define tourism only as a leisurely activity that takes place during vacations, we will restrict the concept.

The related fields add to the definition of the phenomenon of modern tourism. Hence, the author makes use of certain terms from the related fields, e.g. purely economic terms that are directly linked to tourism as a sector of economy.

The terms are given in the form of nouns and syntagms (combinations of nouns and their accompanying adjectives). Abbreviations are not used as descriptors; their definitions are given in a separate appendix.

The dictionary includes numerous compound terms, which are a part of tourism lexis and, therefore, should be included in the description of various forms of tourism. In certain (rare) cases, these terms are comprised of three or more words i.e. phrases.  All the other descriptors are comprised of one or two words.

All Georgian descriptors are given in the singular with the exception of a few units. Gerunds are used to define certain activities and processes. Adjectives, adverbs and verbs are never given as separate terms.

The dictionary contains approximately 7 000 terms and phrases. The terms are arranged in English alphabetic order. Descriptors are given in bold print and are accompanied by linguistic equivalents and definitions. Some terms are accompanied by a list of descriptor groups. The descriptor given in the beginning of the group is a general term and is printed in bold, e.g.

Advertisement, ad – advertisement, announcement of advertising character

Consumer ~ – consumer-oriented advertisement;

Media ~ – advertisement placed in media;

Selective ~ – advertisement targeted at a certain group of consumers.

Appendices constitute an important part of the dictionary. They contain additional information and help tourist companies and persons engaged in tourism to compile tourist routes, select objects according to the tourists’ demand, contact embassies or consulates, give competent advice to tourists and offer them interesting service. The appendices include the following chapters:

1.   Geography (countries and groups of countries);

2.   Universally-used abbreviations;

3.   Permanent international tourist exhibitions;

4.   Codes of cities and international airports;

5.   Codes of airlines;

6.   Local time in capitals worldwide;

7.   International telephone codes;

8.   World currencies (coins and ISO codes);

9.   International and national popular festivals;

10. International and national religious holidays;

11. Georgian religious holidays;

12. National holidays (independence days);

13. The list of hotel-networks worldwide (web-sites);

14. Types of hotel services (symbols and pictograms)

15. Universal holidays, festivals, carnivals (web-sites);

16. Foreign embassies and representations of international organizations in Georgia (addresses, telephone-numbers and e-mails);

17. Diplomatic representations of Georgia abroad (addresses, telephone-numbers and e-mails);

18. Georgian resorts (108 resorts, resources and curative capacities);

19. Religious buildings of Tbilisi (all confessions; list of addresses);

20. Georgian architectural monuments in cities and regions of Georgia (per each monument administrative center and distance from Tbilisi is given);

21. Corresponding sizes of clothes in different countries;

22. A chart of measurement units.

The author is extremely grateful to all those persons who have assisted her in the process of compiling the given dictionary:

1.  Zaira Gudushauri- Doctor of Economics, Professor (economics)

2.  Gia Kajaia – Doctor of Biological Scienced, Professor (ecology)

3.  Sandro Maruashvili- Doctor of Historical Sciences (Architectural Monuments of Georgia)

4.  Nana Djakobia – Tbilisi balneal resort – Head doctor of balneology, physiotherapy, rehabilitation and curative tourism (resorts)

5.  Juri Sukhitashvili- Vice Professor at Tbilisi Aviation University (traffic)

6.  Tamar Chilingarashvili- Doctor of Medical Sciences (curative toruism)

7.  Manana Vasadze – Head teacher at Tbilisi Technical University, expert (accommodation, catering)

8.  Nino Ositashvili- Hotel ‘Vere-Palace’, a manager (accommodation)

9.  Nino Gamrekeli – Exhibition Center, Project manager (exhibitions,  advertisements)

10.  Manuel Faudes – an expert (catering industry)

11.  Lela Garsevanishvili- Second Deputy of the Department of Eurointegration of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (English language)

12.  Manana Kutateladze – (Religious monuments of Tbilisi)

13.  Nika Erkomaishvili – Tourist company ‘Georgika-Travel’, President (international tourism)

14.  Giorgi Kalandadze – Tourist company ‘Georgika-Travel’, President (international tourism)

15.  Marika Gorgadze – Tourist company ‘American Express’, manager (international tourism)

16. Ia Tabagari – Company ‘Caucasus Travel’, manager (international tourism).

Editorial board:

Mikheil Jibuti _ Doctor of Economics, Professor

Avtandil Arabuli _ Doctor of Philological Sciences, Professor

Mikheil Kurdiani _ Doctor of Philological Sciences, Professor

Nikoloz Saakashvili _ Doctor of Medicine

David Onoprishvili _ Doctor of Economics

Irina Gogorishvili _ Doctor of Economics

Tamar Lomidze _ Doctor of Philological Sciences