Record numbers of international visitors flock to Georgia in 2017

A record number of international visitors visited Georgia in 2017, says head of the Georgian National Tourism Administration Giorgi Chogovadze.

Georgia hosted 7,554,936 international visitors (tourists, transit, other), which was a 18.8 percent increase year-on-year (y/y). As for tourists alone, last year Georgia hosted 3,478,932 tourists* (+27.9 percent).

The total income from international tourism amounted to about $2.7 billion in 2017. We have more positive expectations this year and suppose that over 8 million international visitors will arrive in Georgia and income will exceed over $3 billion,” said Chogovadze.

The countries from where the largest number of visitors came to Georgia in 2017 were:

• Armenia – 1,718,016 visitors (14.8 percent increase)
• Azerbaijan – 1,694,998 visitors (11.2 percent increase)
• Russia – 1,392,610 visitors (34.1 percent increase)
• Turkey – 1,246,745 visitors (0.8 percent decrease)
• Iran – 322,938 visitors (118.3 percent increase

From European Union countries:

• United Kingdom - 39.9 percent increase
• The Netherlands – 31.1 percent increase
• Spain – 29.9 percent increase
• France – 29.6 percent increase
• Germany – 25.7 percent increase

The countries with the most significant increase were:

• Jordan – 316.1 percent increase
• Saudi Arabia – 164.6 percent increase
• Kuwait – 154.3 percent increase
• Iran – 118.3 percent
• India – 64.1 percent increase
• China – 54 percent increase

Ed. - *Tourists are considered individuals that spend more than 24 hours in the country.