2.5 million Georgians enjoy domestic travel in 2015

Domestic tourism is growing in Georgia and the most visited destination is capital city Tbilisi.

In the first nine months of this year, more than 2.5 million locals visited another region, revealed the National Statistics Office of Georgia, Geostat.

Visiting friends or relatives was the number one reason why Georgians travelled around their homeland, while shopping was also another popular pastime, claimed the data agency who today released information reflecting the number of internal tourists, their age and intention for nationwide travel.

Figures showed between January and September this year, 2,547,200 local residents visited another region.

People aged between 31 and 50 were the most avid domestic travellers, claimed Geostat. Specifically: 

• People aged 15-30 – 681,400 travellers;
• People aged 31-50 – 934,200 travellers;
• People aged 51-70 – 762,600 travellers; and
• People aged 71 and above – 169,000 travellers.

In terms of gender, between January and September more women (1,397,900) travelled around Georgia than men (1,149,400). Of this, women were more likely to embark on trips involving nature, adventure, pilgrim or healthcare, said Geostat.

Where do domestic travellers go in Georgia?

Georgia’s capital Tbilisi was the most popular place to visit among local travellers. The city enjoyed 597,600 visitors in the reported period, said Geostat. The second most attractive destination was the Imereti region, in which 521,800 people visited.

Other visited regions were:

• Adjara – 287,300 visitors;
• Samegrelo-Zemo Svaneti – 221,600 visitors;
• Kakheti – 214,900 visitors;
• Kvemo Kartli – 172,300 visitors;
• Shida Kartli – 164,900 visitors;
• Mtskheta-Mtianeti – 141,100 visitors;
• Samtskhe-Javakheti – 132,900 visitors;
• Racha-Lechkhumi and Kvemo Svaneti – 30,700 visitors;
• Guria – 68,700 visitors; and
• Abkhazia – 6,100 visitors;

Regarding these figures, Geostat noted it was possible people visited more than one region.

Are locals happy to travel internally?

The level of happiness a person gained while travelling around Georgia varied; 932,700 visitors said they were "very satisfied”, 1,626,100 were "satisfied”, 91,800 were "dissatisfied” and 27,500 travellers were "very dissatisfied”.

Furthermore, 432,500 travellers were neither satisfied nor dissatisfied by travelling internally and 40,600 visitors did not answer the question, said Geostat.

Why do Georgians travel around their home country?

The most common reason for domestic travel in the reported period was for people to visit friends or relatives, while the next most common reason for internal travel was for health or medical care.

The reasons for travel included: 

• Leisure – 281,600 people;
• Visiting friends/relatives – 1,683,400 people;
• Education/trainings – 20,500;
• Health and medical care – 318,200;
• Religion/pilgrimage – 60,300;
• Shopping – 348,900;
• Visiting another property [summer cottage, house, etc.] – 208,400;
• Business or professional – 191,500; and
• Other – 38,400.