Number of ecotourists in Georgia quadruples since 2012
The Agency also revealed the span of the protected areas had increased by almost 300,000 hectares in the last 10 years, amounting to about 800,000 hectares as of 2021, which is 11.5 percent of the country's total territory. Photo: Vajiko Kochiashvili/Georgian Agency of Protected Areas
Tweet 
Share
The number of ecotourists visiting locations in Georgia has quadrupled since 2012 and reached a record high of 1,200,000 in the pre-pandemic year of 2019, the Georgian Agency of Protected Areas revealed on Thursday.
The Agency noted the areas under its administration had resumed visitor reception last May, adding the country hosted 600,000 visitors in the subsequent five months of 2021, reaching 50 percent of the number in the record-high year.
Around 40 ecotourism projects were implemented in the protected areas of the country last year, the Agency added, noting the opening of new ecotourism facilities and destinations, and introduction and development of services between 2012-2021.
The following new ecotourism facilities have opened in Georgia in recent years:
- Martvili Canyon in the north-eastern part of western Georgia
- Okatse Canyon in the Khoni Municipality of the western Imereti region
- Okatse waterfall in the Khoni Municipality of Imereti
- Tetra Cave in Imereti
- Navenakhevi Cave in the Terjola region of western Georgia
- Satsurblia Cave in the Tskaltubo Municipality in Georgia’s west
Additionally, 12 visitor centres were built, eight ecotourism attractions created, and 39 trails arranged across the country, the Agency said.
A total of 82 hiking trails and five navigation routes are found in the country’s protected areas, with a total length of about 1,800 km as of 2021.
The Agency also revealed the span of the protected areas had increased by almost 300,000 hectares in the last 10 years, amounting to about 800,000 hectares as of 2021, which is 11.5 percent of the country's total territory.
Five of Georgia's most impressive protected areas have been hosting visitors free of charge to mark World Tourism Day on Monday, with dozens of museum spaces across the country set to follow suit on Tuesday. In a move to celebrate the international date, the tourism and national park bodies made the five locations accessible without admission fee.
Four protected areas preserving wetlands and rainforests in Georgia's west will join the likes of Yellowstone National Park and Swiss Alps on the UNESCO World Heritage List, after the 2021 World Heritage Committee of the body selected them for inclusion on the coveted roster on Monday.
Mtirala National Park, a protected area in Adjara region of western Georgia has won the 2020 World Travel Awards and was named as ‘the leading national park of Georgia 2020’ beating Borjomi-Kharagauli National Park, Kazbegi National Park, Kolkheti National Park and Lagodekhi National Park.
Four locations in Georgia’s west could become the first natural sites in the country to be inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List, with the protected areas of Kolkheti, Mtirala, Kintrishi and Kobuleti nominated for the global roster through a collaboration of Georgian and foreign professionals.
The Tana Reserve and the Tana and Tedzami Protected Landscape, with an area of 32,850 hectares in central Georgia's Gori Municipality, are the latest protected areas joining the list of natural locations in Georgia after a bill was approved by the Georgian Government on Monday.
A new birdwatching destination has been launched in the Artsivi (Eagle) Canyon of eastern Georgia’s Vashlovani Protected Areas, with visitors set to find crossing bridges and ecotourist spots in the area, the Agency of Protected Areas announced on Tuesday.