Over one million Georgians enjoyed domestic travel in 2016

More Georgians are seeking out ways to explore the beauty of their home country, show the latest data from the National Statistics Office of Georgia (Geostat).

About 1.08 million Georgians aged 15 and older ventured away from their homes and visited another region in Georgia in 2016.

These travellers spent almost 125 million GEL (about $50m/€46m*) in total while travelling in Georgia.

People aged 31-50 were the most avid domestic travellers (331,300 people), while the least people willing to travel were the elderly (57,400 people).

In terms of gender, more women (488,700) travelled around Georgia than men (383,700) in 2016.

Where do domestic travellers go in Georgia?

Tbilisi was the most visited area, while the Imreti region in the country’s west was the second most popular destination.

Here are the top five most visited areas:

1. Tbilisi – 264,000 domestic travellers
2. Imereti – 223,000 domestic travellers
3. Adjara – 117,500 domestic travellers
4. Kakheti – 84,100 domestic travellers
5. Samegrelo-Zemo Svaneti – 81,500 domestic travellers

Why do Georgians travel around their home country?

Most people travelled to another region in Georgia to visit friends or relatives, while the next most common reason for internal travel was shopping.

The top reasons for internal travel included:

• Visiting friends/relatives – 566,500 travellers
• Shopping – 132,600 travellers
• Health and Medical Care – 120, 100 travellers
• Holiday, Leisure, Recreation – 96,800 travellers
• Visiting another house (cottage, etc.) – 72,900 travellers

How much do people spend while on holiday?

Georgians spent the largest proportion of money on foods and drinks, said Geostat.

On average, the total amount spent in 2016 per category was:

• Foods and drinks – 35.8m GEL
• Shopping – 33.4 million GEL
• Transport – 21.1m GEL
• Accommodation – 5.8m GEL
• Holiday, leisure, recreation, cultural and sporting activities – 2.1m GEL
• Other expenditures - 27m GEL

Are locals happy with travel and leisure infrastructure?

The monthly average number of visits made by visitors age 15 and older by satisfaction level is the following:

• Very dissatisfied – 5,300
• Dissatisfied – 27,100
• Neither satisfied nor dissatisfied – 170,700
• Satisfied – 551,200
• Very satisfied – 318,900

Furthermore, 6,700 travellers did not know or found it hard to answer whether they were satisfied of dissatisfied with their travel in Georgia, said Geostat.

* Currency conversions reflect National Bank of Georgia values as of today.