Pankisi; Kist; rural tourism

In 2009, Polish Aid financed a project of the Association of Pankisi Women aimed at the development of agro-tourism in the gorge. By now, the number of tourists arriving to the gorge is still only few dozens per year, however, for the isolated community even such small flow of tourists makes serious challenges to their traditions and habits. The paper, based on two field trips to the gorge (2010, 2011, involving observations and interviews with the locals) shows, how the Kists present (or sale) some of their traditions to the tourists and how the local way of live is compatible with / affected by the international tourism. The paper concludes with some considerations about the role of tourism for the development of the Kist community.