Georgian PM Expects over 8 mln Tourists This Year
Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili has said he expects that this year Georgia will host around 8 million tourists.
The PM made the statement at the presentation of the National Tourism Administration report 2017, held on Thursday afternoon.
Kvirikashvili stated that in 2017, Georgia hosted around 7,554,936 international visitors which was an 18.8% increase compared to 2016.
The Prime Minister expressed hope that the positive trend of tourism development will continue in the future and that this year, the number of foreign visitors will exceed 8 million.
He added that the income from the tourism field last year amounted to $2.7 billion, noting it was income in every field of the country’s economy.
“Georgia will now pay more attention to the security component in the tourism sector,” the PM stated, adding that the strengthening and development of the high-tech segment will definitely bring high-income tourists to Georgia.
The head of the Georgian National Tourism Administration, Giorgi Chogovadze, stated last year Georgia had a record number of visitors. According to him, the top 5 countries in terms of visitors were: Armenia -1,718,016 visitors, Azerbaijan - 1,694,998 visitors, Russia - 1,392,610, Turkey - 1,246,745 and Iran - 322,938 visitors.
National Tourism Administration of the Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development held a 2017 Report presentation #Tourism #Georgia
— Ministry of Economy (@Economygovge) March 29, 2018
video: https://t.co/Kwj3kCl7eK pic.twitter.com/j63Ns271QQ
By Thea Morrison