Georgia Enjoys Tourism Revenue Increases in March

TBILISI - Tourism is on the rise in Georgia, as the latest statistics from the Ministry of Georgia’s Internal Affairs show that the number of foreign visitors increased in March.

More than 1 million foreign nationals were registered in Georgia since January, a 14.7 per cent increase compared to the same period last year.

In total, about half a million people visited Georgia last month, up 16.7 per cent from March 2015.

Economy and Sustainable Development Minister Dmitri Kumsishvili announced that according to preliminary calculations, the national budget in March earned 38 million more GEL (USD 16.7 million) than compared to the same period last year.

"The statistics revealed that 5,900,000 tourists visited Georgia last year. The National Bank of Georgia calculated that the tourism sector earned USD 1,935,000,000 from visitors in 2015; USD 148 million more than the year before,” Kumsishvili said.

According to statistics from the internal affairs ministry for March, 170,281 were tourists (up 24,8 per cent from 2015), 82,609 people were in transit (down 6,3 percent year-on-year) and 197,985 travellers came for other purposes (a 22.5 per cent spike from the previous year).

Azerbaijan (19 per cent), Turkey (6.7 per cent), Armenia (4.2 per cent), Russia (15.7 per cent) and Ukraine (26.9 per cent) were the top countries who visited Georgia in March.

Following the Georgian government’s decision to lift its visa regime with Iran, the number of citizens arriving from the Islamic Republic has increased dramatically by 1,065.8 per cent, statistics revealed.

By Tamar Svanidze

Edited by Nicholas Waller