UNWTO Executive Director calls Georgia’s economic growth, investment flows “intelligent”

Natalia Bayona, the Executive Director of the United Nations World Tourism Organisation, said in a video address released by the Georgian National Tourism Administration on Tuesday that the country’s maintenance of economic growth and "historic" investment flows were "intelligent".

Georgia has been increasing the gross domestic product by five percent in the last 10 years and when it comes to the foreign direct investments, since 2022, the country has been experiencing growth, and historic investment flows. All the things Georgia is doing to preserve are really intelligent, and the future is based on this tradition that at the end of the day is the uniqueness that this land has”, she said.

Bayona highlighted the importance of the World Tourism Day annual event hosted in Tbilisi earlier this month, saying this year’s theme of Tourism and Peace had been “maybe the most important thematic” along with the question of how “the most human economic sector” could “preserve humanity through mutual understanding, investments, economic development, growth and social sustainability”.

She also shared her impressions of the Georgian people, saying: “What I love about Georgia is Georgians. People here are full of energy. They love to be happy, to gather and of course to surprise you”.

World Tourism Day, hosted for the first time in Georgia, gathered government officials, representatives of international organisations and the tourism industry from around the world, with discussion panels focusing on global tourism trends and the role of peace in fostering industry development.

The decision to grant Georgia the hosting right was unanimously approved by 38 members of the European Commission of the WTO in 2023.