Q1 2022: Turkey, Russia are top destinations for Georgian travellers

A total of 261,400 Georgian resident travellers took a trip outside of the country in the first quarter of 2022 with most of these trips being made to Turkey (102,800) and Russia (26,300), show the latest data from the National Statistics Office of Georgia.

The next most in demand destinations were EU member countries (12.4 percent), Armenia (11.5 percent), Ukraine (1.9 percent) and Azerbaijan (1.2 percent).

Georgian residents spent ₾285.1 million (about $99.69m/€93.39m) while travelling abroad in Q1 of 2022. The average expenditure of the visit amounted to ₾1,318.8 (about $461.12/€432.01).

Georgians spent the highest amount of money on shopping (113.7 million GEL), followed by foods and drinks (93.3 million GEL) and accommodation (39.3 million GEL).

Georgians in Athens. Photo: Nino Alavidze/Agenda.ge.

What were the top reasons for visiting other countries?

Visiting friends/relatives was the most common reason for travel outside Georgia, while the top reasons for visiting other countries included:

• Visiting friends/relatives – 67,400 visits (31.2%)
• Shopping – 65,900 visits (30.5%)
• Business – 42,900 visits (19.8%)
• Holiday/Leisure/Recreation – 25,400 visits (11.7%)
• Health and medical care – 6,900 visits (3.2%)
• Other – 7,700 visits (3.6%)

In Q1 of 2022 the average number of nights spent during the outbound visits was 6.4 nights.

Meanwhile, 95.5 percent of outbound visits were repeat visits, said Geostat.

The majority of outbound visits (47.6 percent) belonged to the visitors of age group of 31-50 years. The number of visits made by women equalled to 41.4 percent of the total number of visits.