Georgia is ranked 44th out of 117 countries in the 2021 edition of the Travel and Tourism Development Index of the World Economic Forum, the Georgian Tourism Administration announced on Wednesday.
The country made a significant leap in the ranking by moving up 24 places from the 68th spot in 2019. Turkey, Armenia and Azerbaijan came lower than Georgia and were ranked 45th, 61st and 63rd, respectively.
Medea Janiashvili, the Acting Head of the GNTA, said Georgia's "significant progress" in the 2021 index was related to the "rapid pace" of tourism recovery from Covid-19.
Georgia ranks 44th in 2021, largely because of the proper pandemic management and the rapid dynamics of tourism recovery. This is a most important recognition. According to this index, we compete with and overtake countries such as Turkey, Egypt, Israel and Croatia. This is very important for Georgia", Janiashvili said.
The Travel and Tourism Development Index ranks countries based on a set of factors that enable sustainable and resilient development of their travel and tourism sectors.