Deputy economy minister: 100% recovery of Georgia’s tourism income after pandemic, expected to exceed 3bln in 2022
The crucial issues of the international travel and tourism agenda were discussed at the session of the UNWTO executive council in Morocco. Georgia has been a member of the council between 2021-2025 years. Photo: Economy ministry
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After the coronavirus pandemic, Georgia was able to recover its tourism income by 100 percent and as a result, a $3 billion surpass in the sector is expected, which will have a “direct” impact on job creation and improvement of the well-being of citizens, the Georgian deputy economy minister Mariam Kvrivishvili said on Thursday in her address at the 117th session of the executive council of the United Nations World Tourism Organisation.
Kvrivishvili highlighted the close partnership between the member states of the council, which served for the “effective” implementation of common goals, adding the session was an “extraordinary” opportunity for the countries to discuss the achieved progress in the sector, the economy ministry said.
In her speech, the deputy minister stressed that the “continuous” support of Zurab Pololikashvili, the general secretary of the organisation and his team, as well as their new initiatives and programmes, had had a “direct” impact on the restoration of tourism on an international scale.
I would like to [...] confirm Georgia's readiness to engage in joint activities in the active educational process of tourism. We firmly believe that appropriate education is the factor that ensures the sustainable development of the sector and the creation of high-paying jobs”, Kvrivishvili noted.
The crucial issues of the international travel and tourism agenda were discussed at the session of the UNWTO executive council in Morocco. Georgia has been a member of the council between 2021-2025 years.
Georgia received $2,854,529,093 from international tourism between January and October of this year, with the figure surpassing pre-pandemic numbers from 2019 and hitting record-high markers this year, the Georgian national tourism administration announced on Thursday.
The number of international traveller visits to Georgia recovered by 63.7 percent in October compared to the same month of the pre-pandemic 2019, the Georgian national tourism administration said on Thursday.
Georgia's income from international tourist visits reached $375,615,194 in September, with the figure being 132.1 percent higher compared to the same period of last year, the Georgian national tourism administration said on Thursday.
Levan Davitashvili, the Georgian minister for economy, on Monday said the government was expecting about three billion dollars in income from the domestic tourism sector this year, which would mark a number close to the pre-pandemic figure of $3.2 billion.
Positive economic trends in Georgia and future prospects were discussed on Saturday in a meeting of the Government's Economic Council led by Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili, the Government Administration said.
Passenger flow at Tbilisi International Airport recovered by 108 percent in November 2022 compared to pre-pandemic 2019 figures, TAV Georgia, the company operating two major airports in the country, said on Monday.
Georgia hosted 4,862,247 international travellers in the first 11 months of 2022, a 185.5 percent increase year-on-year and a 55.9 percent recovery from the pre-pandemic 2019, the Georgian National Tourism Administration announced on Tuesday.
About 1.28 million Georgian citizens aged 15 and above made 1.47 million monthly visits within the country in the third quarter of 2022 and spent ₾346.3 million (about $130.44mln), the latest data published by the National Statistics Office of Georgia show.