Georgia welcomes 20% more tourists in April

Georgia’s reputation as a tourist hotspot is growing; the country hosted 20 percent more tourists in April 2016 than in April last year, official figures show.

The number of tourists who spent more than 24 hours in Georgia last month made up 37 percent of the total number of monthly visitors.

Georgia’s Ministry of Internal Affairs released data that showed 462,480 international visitors (tourist, transit, other) came to Georgia in April 2016. This was 17.2 percent more compared to the same month of 2015.

Visitors to Georgia in April 2016 can be separated into three categories:
• 171,235 tourists (37 percent of the total number of monthly visitors) – a 20 percent increase y/y;
• 107,500 transit visitors (23.3 percent of the total number of monthly visitors) – a 13 percent increase y/y; and
• 183,745 ‘other’ visitors (39.7 percent of the total number of monthly visitors) – a 16.8 percent increase y/y.

In April 2016 the most international visitors came from Turkey (12 percent increase), Azerbaijan (17.6 percent increase), Armenia (8.7 percent increase), Russia (26.7 percent increase) and Ukraine (25.9 percent increase).

A positive trend was retained regarding visitors from European Union (EU) countries. In January-April 2016 growing numbers of EU visitors came from Italy (26 percent increase), Latvia (25 percent increase), and France (14 percent increase).

From Eastern European countries the majority of guests came from Belarus and Moldova (both enjoyed 36 percent increase), while the leaders among central Asian countries were Uzbekistan (64 percent more) and Kazakhstan (29 percent more) and from the Near East Israeli took first position with 106 percent more guests.

The Ministry figures revealed visitor numbers in April 2016 were up 141 percent from the United Arab Emirates.

Meanwhile in January-April (Q1 2016) Georgia hosted 1,596,916 visitors. This was 15.4 percent more y/y. (Agenda.ge)