Georgians spend $48m on domestic tourism in Q4 2015

People of Georgian spent an average of 113 GEL each time they travelled inside the country and they seem to be "very satisfied” with their domestic journey, official figures show.

Almost 970,000 locals visited another region in Georgia and collectively spent 110 million GEL (about $48 million/€43 million*) in the fourth quarter (Q4) of 2015, said 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 Geostat who today released information reflecting the number of internal tourists, their age and intention for nationwide travel.

Figures showed Georgia’s capital Tbilisi was the most visited destination among local travellers.

What do domestic travellers spend while on holiday?

Georgians spent the largest proportion of money on shopping, said Geostat. In total people collectively spent 35.5 million GEL (about $15 million/€14million*) on shopping, followed by: 

• Transport – 20.8 million GEL; 
• Foods and drinks – 24.1 million GEL;
• Accommodation – 1.8 million GEL;
• Holiday, leisure, recreation, cultural and sporting activities – 0.6 million GEL; and
• Other expenditure – 109.2 million GEL.

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

• People aged 15-30 – 207,400 travellers;
• People aged 31-50 – 294,900 travellers;
• People aged 51-70 – 238,000 travellers; and
• People aged 71 and above – 60,900 travellers.

In terms of gender, in Q4 of 2015 more women (431,600) travelled around Georgia than men (369,500). 

Where do domestic travellers go in Georgia?

Georgia’s capital Tbilisi was the most popular place to visit among local travellers. The city enjoyed 240,400 visitors in Q4, claimed Geostat. The second most attractive destination was the Imereti region, which 222,500 people visited.

Other visited regions were:

• Adjara – 101,200 visitors;
• Kakheti – 78,000 visitors;
• Kvemo Kartli – 69,400 visitors;
• Shida Kartli – 68,600 visitors;
• Samegrelo-Zemo Svaneti – 65,900visitors;
• Mtskheta-Mtianeti – 51,800 visitors;
• Samtskhe-Javakheti – 41,400 visitors;
• Guria – 20,900;
• Racha-Lechkhumi and Kvemo Svaneti – 8,500 visitors; and
• Abkhazia – 1,200 visitors.

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

Why do Georgians travel around their home country?

The most common reason for domestic travel in Q4 of 2015 was to visit friends or relatives, while the next most common reasons for internal travel was for shopping then health or medical care.

Other reasons for travel included: 

• Visiting friends/relatives – 532,500 people;
• Shopping – 119,900 people;
• Health and medical care – 104,300 people;
• Visiting another property [summer cottage, house, etc.] – 64,500 people;
• Business or professional – 56,100 people; 
• Leisure – 31,900 people;
• Religion/pilgrimage – 14,700 people;
• Education/trainings – 4,100 people; and
• Other – 11,100 people.

Are locals happy to travel internally?

The level of happiness a person gained while travelling around Georgia varied; 239,800 visitors said they were "very satisfied”, 520,800 were "satisfied”, 29,600 were "dissatisfied” and 2,600 travellers were "very dissatisfied”.

Furthermore, 161,500 travellers were neither satisfied nor dissatisfied by travelling around their home nation and 14,700 visitors did not answer the question, said Geostat.

* Currencies are equivalent to today's National Bank of Georgia exchange rate.