Georgia’s Tourist Boom in January 2020

As of January 2020, a record number of 633,201 international travellers visited Georgia. The increase is +19.8% compared to the same period last year. "More than 363,614 tourist visits were seen in the same period, which is a 18.9% increase," says Mariam Kvrivishvili, the head of the National Tourism Administration.

The information was provided by the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia to the National Tourism Administration of the Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development.

“These results are especially vital as they represent the fruitfulness of the activities that the National Tourism Administration has undertaken in 2019 in the realm of marketing on the international arena. We have achieved a joint result, which is crucial for the development of tourism in our country,“ Kvrivishvili added.

Following Russia's imposition of aviation restrictions, the Georgian government has been working arduously to minimize probable negative consequences for the tourism industry. In 2019, the National Tourism Administration undertook major marketing activities targeted at multiple international markets. There have been numerous large-scale campaigns about Georgia through various influential international media outlets and online platforms. 

Most international visits came from Azerbaijan (+34.9%), Armenia (+17.5%), Russia (+1.1%) and Turkey (+16.6%). 

Georgia’s tourism sector saw a significant visitor boost from the following countries: Israel +57.3%, Saudi Arabia +49.8%, Kazakhstan +44.8%, Kuwait +44.6%. Visits also increased from EU countries,among them Italy +133.1%, Poland +82.9%, France +46.8%, and Lietua +43.7%.