Georgia Sees Record Number of Visitors in 2016

TBILISI - Tourism is on the rise in Georgia according to the latest statistics from the Georgian National Tourism Administration.

Almost half a million holiday makers visited Georgia in May. The totals represent a 14.9 per cent year-on-year rise, according to the head of the country’s tourism department, Giorgi Chogovadze.

“The number of visitors in 2016 has so far shattered our previous record. We’ve seen more than 2 million people visit the country since January. This is 15.3 percent more than the same period last year,” said Chogovadze.

According to statistics for May from the National Tourism Department, the number of tourists who spent more than 24 hours in the country amounted to 204,714, or a 24.3 per cent increase from the same period last year.

The overwhelming number of visitors to Georgia originate from Azerbaijan, Turkey, Armenia, Russia and Ukraine, the tourism administration said.

According to Chogovadze the share of tourism in the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) amounted to 6.7 percent in 2015, up 16.2 per cent from the previous year.

By Tamar Svanidze

Edited by Nicholas Waller