Why do Georgians travel around their home country?
Statistics reveal top 8 reasons for domestic travel

Visiting friends or relatives is the most common reason for domestic travellers in Georgia, reports the National Statistics Office of Georgia (Geostat).

Spending holidays, leisure time and recreation is the second main reason for Georgian domestic travellers to travel around their home country.

The top eight reasons for internal travel in the third quarter (Q3) of 2018 were:

1. Visit friends or relatives (47%)
2. Holiday, leisure, recreation (16.2%)
3. Shopping – 13.9%
4. Health and medical care – 8.5%
5. Visiting another house (cottage, etc.) – 8.5%
6. Business or professional – 4%
7. Religion – 1.2%
8. Education – 0.4%

In total 985,400 Georgians aged 15 and older took trips within their home country in Q3 of 2018, said Geostat.

These people made 1.2 million visits on the territory of Georgia. The number of visits increased by 0.7% in comparison to the same quarter of 2017.

These travellers spent 191.9 million GEL in total while travelling in Georgia, which is 3% less compared to Q3 2017. Domestic travellers used to spend 160.7 GEL per visit – a 3.7% decrease year-on-year.

People aged 31-50 were the most avid domestic travellers (38%), while the least people willing to travel were the elderly (5%), said Geostat.

In terms of gender, more women (57%) travelled around Georgia than men (43%) in Q3 2018.

Where do domestic travellers go in Georgia?

Georgia’s capital city of Tbilisi was the most visited area (281,400 visits per month). The Imereti region in the country’s west was the second most popular destination with 206.900 visits per month.