International tourist arrivals up 28 percent in March

The number of international visitors coming to Georgia is increasing show data from the Georgian National Tourism Administration (GNTA).

219,642 tourists* spent time in the country in March of 2017, making for a 28.6 percent year-over-year (y/y) increase.

Overall, 511,045 international travellers (tourists, transit, other) visited Georgia last month – 13.1 percent more compared to the same period in 2016.

The highest number of visitors who came to Georgia in March 2017 were from Azerbaijan (11.1 percent increase), Armenia (11 percent increase), Turkey (17 percent decrease), Russia (16.5 percent increase) and Iran (194.8 percent increase).

A positive trend was also maintained by visitors from the European Union:

• Poland - 39 percent increase
• France - 38 percent increase
• Germany - 19 percent increase
• Greece - 18 percent increase
• Lithuania - 17 percent increase

Exceptional growth in visitor numbers was recorded from the following countries:

• Iran – 195 percent increase
• India - 182 percent increase
• Egypt – 119 percent increase
• Uzbekistan - 97 percent increase
• Israel - 93 percent increase

Meanwhile, during the first three months of 2017 Georgia hosted 1,266,125 international travellers (11.4 percent increase).

Ed. - *Tourists are considered individuals that spend more than 24 hours in the country.