Tourists Numbers Increase by 12.9 Percent in First Half of 2016

TBILISI - The number of international travellers to Georgia in the first six months of 2016 amounted to 2,636,313, a 12.9 per cent year-on-year increase, according to the Georgian National Tourism Administration.

Administration head Giorgi Chogovadze said 1,011,680 of the visitors stayed in the country for more than 24 hours, which amounts to an 18.1 per cent increase from the same period in 2015.

The majority of visitors came from Azerbaijan - 686,102 people, up 18.1 per cent from last year. 629,754 visitors from Turkey, up 4 per cent from a year ago and Armenia with 552,806 guests from Armenia, a full 14 per cent year-on-year increase.

The number of visitors from Russia and Ukraine increased 15.6 per cent and 26.3 per cent compared to the same period in 2015.

Chogovadze added that the number of visitors from EU countries in January-June increase also increased, with Latvian visitors by 29 per cent, Italian by 20 per cent and French by 12 per cent.

The number of tourists from Iran skyrocketed by 400 per cent, 340 per cent India, the Philippines by 208 per cent, 95 per cent Israel, China 57 per cent and 31 per cent by Uzbekistan. By Eka Karsaulidze