Investment company says Georgia's tourism revenue to increase by 15%, reach $4 billion in 2023

Galt & Taggart, a Georgian-based company for investment banking and management services, has forecast the country’s tourism revenues to increase by 15 percent year-on-year and reach $4 billion in 2023, in its Tourism Market Watch update released on Wednesday.

The release said Georgia’s tourism revenues had stood at $363.3 million in December - up 2.9 times year-on-year and surpassing the pre-pandemic 2019 level by 67.2 percent - and added international arrivals to the country were expected to reach 7.7 million next year.

In the statistics update, Russia accounted for 30.1 percent of Georgia’s tourism revenues, followed by Turkey (23.3%) and Ukraine (6.7%), while revenues from the European Union stood at 5.3% of the total. 

Galt & Taggart also noted the figure also accounted for the impact of arrivals in Georgia from Russia, Belarus and Ukraine since the start of the Russia-Ukraine war in February 2022. 

It said the estimations showed about 150,000-200,000 visitors - including the increased arrivals from Russia starting in late September, following the military mobilisation announced in the country - had relocated to Georgia “for longer term than regular tourists”. 

Also in the figures, the number of international visitors stood at 504,620 in December, up 213.9 percent y/y and recovering to 94.4 percent of the 2019 level.

Most of the visitors came from:

• Turkey (39.5% of total)
• Russia (17.7%)
• Armenia (15.1%)

The report also noted demand for accommodation from the arriving individuals had swung from Airbnb offerings to hotels in December. 

Demand on Airbnb options only surpassed the December 2019 level by 7.6 percent, in contrast to 51.4% in the preceding month, while the hotel demand recovery accelerated month-on-month, it pointed out.