Geostat: Tourists Spent GEL 5.761 Billion in Georgia in 2017

The Inbound Tourist Statistics, published by the National Statistics Office of Georgia (Geostat), reads that last year, tourists spent GEL 5.761 billion while visiting Georgia.

In 2017, international non-resident travelers travelled 7.9 million times in Georgia, from which 6.5 million were visits made by international visitors, a 20.2% increase compared to 2016.

Geostat says that last year the number of inbound visitors to Georgia was 5.1 million, which is a 21.8% increase compared to 2016.

The agency added that in 2017, an average of GEL 888.7 was spent on one visit to Georgia. According to Geostat data, the average annual expenditure on travel by tourists in 2017 increased by 9.4% compared to 2016.

According to the same statistics, tourists spend most of their money on food and drinks (227.8 GEL), followed by accommodation expenses (204.7 GEL), while they spent 164.4 GEL on average on entertainment in Georgia.

63.8% of international visitors who came to Georgia last year were tourists, meaning that they spent at least 1 night in the country.

According to Geostat, the largest number of visitors arrived in Georgia from Azerbaijan.

By Thea Morrison

Photo source: visitgeorgia.ge