Georgia’s hotel industry is alluring, analysis says

Georgia’s tourism industry is continuing to boom as more foreign visitors than residents continue to visit the country – and this is making the country more alluring for hotel providers, says a leading global provider of b2b hotel data.

Tophotelprojects believed more overnight guests spending time in Georgia proved there was a need for more mid-class hotels in the country.

"The need of new hotel beds is growing. Especially mid-class hotels are on demand,” said Tophotelprojects in its latest report.

Currently Georgia operates 777 hotels with about 14,400 rooms. In Tbilisi, the capital, six large and 20 small hotels are in the pipeline. In Batumi, a seaside city in western Georgia, several large and mid-sized hotels are set to open their doors within the next few years.

Tourism and hotel development has been a top priority for the Georgian Government. Data from Tophotelprojects showed 5.4 million overnight guests stayed in Georgia last year, which was 21 percent more than 2012.

"This is more than the total population of Georgia, which is 4.49 million,” the report said.

Radisson Blu Iveria Hotel in Tbilisi. Photo by Nino Alavidze/agenda.ge 

Georgian hotel investors have begun to attract global franchising operators in the past few years.

New planned hotels will be constructed under the brand names of Rixos, Millenium Hotel, Park Inn, Rooms Hotel Tbilisi and InterContinental as well Hilton Garden Inn, which is currently delayed.

Batumi will open hotel branches under Kempinski, Holiday Inn, Hilton, Swiss Hotel, Babylon Tower (BAB Group/Turkey), Cubic Tower and Gazelli (Azerbaijan projects) as well as a five star hotel by Turkish association Mersin Tourism, who have yet to decide the hotel’s name.

Within the next three years the bed capacity in large hotels will grow to more than 1,000 rooms.