Tourism Administration: Number of Tourists in Georgia increased by 7.6 % in 2016
By Tea Mariamidze
Thursday, January 5
The Head of Georgia’s National Tourism Administration, Giorgi Chogovadze, summed up the statistics of 2016 and said that the number of tourists visiting the country in 2016 increased by 7.6 percent compared to 2015.
Chogovadze said that last year 6,350,825 international visitors arrived in Georgia, which is 449 731 visitors more compared to 2015.
Moreover, the Head of Tourism Administration said that the highest number of tourists arrived in Georgia from Azerbaijan, with 1,523,075 (+9.3%), followed by Armenia with 1,496,246 (+1.9%) and Turkey with 1,254,089 (-9.9%). 1,037,564 (+12.0%) Russian tourists visited Georgia in 2016, while the number of visitors from Ukraine amounted to 172,631 (+21.8%).
The year-on-year statistics for visitors from Europe also saw significant increases. The total number of travelers from Lithuania, Latvia, Czech Republic, Bulgaria and Germany has also increased.
“Special growth of tourists was observed from the following countries: Iran (+485%), India (+ 199%), Saudi Arabia (+ 116%), the Philippines (+ 89%), Oman (+ 75%) and China (+46%)," Chogovadze said.
The Head of Georgia’s National Tourism Administration said that the income from international tourism has also increased and amounted $ 1.7 billion in three quarters of 2016 which is 177 million more than the figures of the previous year.
“We expect the adjusted figures to show international tourism revenue exceeded over $2 billion in 2017’ said Chogovadze.
