New record: Georgia hosts over 8 million international travelers in 2018
Georgia hosted 8,105,829 international travellers in January-November 2018 of which 4,486,595 were tourists. Photo: N. Alavidze/Agenda.ge.
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Georgia has set a new record, hosting over eight million international travellers this year, the Georgian National Tourism Administration (GNTA) announces.
More specifically, Georgia hosted 8,105,829 international travellers in January-November 2018, showing an increase of 10.6% year-on-year (y/y). Of these travellers, 4,486,595 were tourists, which is 17.2% more compared to the same period of 2017.
The majority of foreign travellers were from:
- Russia -1,341,127 travellers (+23.8%)
- Azerbaijan - 1,311,907 travellers (+9.8%)
- Armenia - 1,162,220 travellers (+0.3%)
- Turkey - 1,031,147 travellers (+11.6%)
A positive trend was maintained by visitors from the European Union:
- Estonia (+82%)
- Romania (+63%)
- Slovakia (+62%)
- The Netherlands (+58%)
- Germany (+50%)
The countries with the most significant increase were:
- Korea (+117%)
- China (+80%)
- Belarus (+43%)
- Israel (+33%)
- Kazakhstan (+24%)
- The United States (+24%)
Last month alone Georgia hosted 598,312 internatioanal visitors (6.4%) of which 307,272 were tourists (+14%), said the GNTA.
How did Georgia benefit from more visitors?
About $2.81 billion was generated from international tourism in Georgia in January-October 2018, which was $468 million more compared to the same period of 2017, shows the preliminary data of the GNTA.
In the first and second quarter of 2018 international tourism revenue reached $1.36 billion.
Meanwhile, in all of 2017 international tourism revenue reached $2.7billion, which was $594 million more compared to 2016.
A total of 2.2 million international visitors ventured away from their home countries and visited Georgia in the third quarter (Q3) of 2018, which is a 10.2% year-on-year (y/y) increase, show the latest data published by the National Statistics Office of Georgia (Geostat).
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