New record: Georgia hosts over 8 million international travelers in 2018

Georgia hosted 8,105,829 international travellers in January-November 2018 of which 4,486,595 were tourists. Photo: N. Alavidze/Agenda.ge.
 

Agenda.ge, 04 Dec 2018 - 12:27, Tbilisi,Georgia

Georgia has set a new record, hosting over eight million international travellers this year, the Georgian National Tourism Administration (GNTA) announces.

More specifically, Georgia hosted 8,105,829 international travellers in January-November 2018, showing an increase of 10.6% year-on-year (y/y). Of these travellers, 4,486,595 were tourists, which is 17.2% more compared to the same period of 2017.

The majority of foreign travellers were from:

  • Russia -1,341,127 travellers (+23.8%)
  • Azerbaijan - 1,311,907 travellers (+9.8%)
  • Armenia - 1,162,220 travellers (+0.3%)
  • Turkey - 1,031,147 travellers (+11.6%)

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

  • Estonia (+82%)
  • Romania (+63%)
  • Slovakia (+62%)
  • The Netherlands (+58%)
  • Germany (+50%)

The countries with the most significant increase were:

  • Korea (+117%)
  • China (+80%)
  • Belarus (+43%)
  • Israel (+33%)
  • Kazakhstan (+24%)
  • The United States (+24%)

Last month alone Georgia hosted 598,312 internatioanal visitors (6.4%) of which 307,272 were tourists (+14%), said the GNTA.

How did Georgia benefit from more visitors?

About $2.81 billion was generated from international tourism in Georgia in January-October 2018, which was $468 million more compared to the same period of 2017, shows the preliminary data of the GNTA.

In the first and second quarter of 2018 international tourism revenue reached $1.36 billion.

Meanwhile, in all of 2017 international tourism revenue reached $2.7billion, which was $594 million more compared to 2016.