Baku, Azerbaijan, May 16
Trend:
Recently, there has been a decrease in the total expenditures of foreigners in Georgia - by 15.2 percent less compared with the data for January-March 2018, Trend reports via the website of the National Statistics Service “Geostat”.
The largest part of the expenses - a total of 1.2 billion lari (about $ 440,000) in the first quarter of 2019 - was spent on accommodation, meals and alcohol.
The average amount of money spent on a trip to Georgia is on average about 890 lari (about $324). In the first quarter of last year, the amount was 16.1 percent more.
According to the ministry, the first place in terms of the number of visits to Georgia is held by Azerbaijan, almost 400,000 visits in four months. The second place is occupied by Russia.
The Georgian authorities have repeatedly stated that the main strategy of the administration of the Georgian National Tourism Administration is not just increasing the number of travelers in the country, but attracting more wealthy tourists.
"It is important for us that our population and we ourselves correctly understand the importance of tourism. Tourism is important when it makes an appropriate contribution to the economy," said Mariam Kvrivishvili, head of the Georgian National Tourism Administration.
The National Tourism Administration expects that by 2025, 11 million visitors from abroad will enter the country annually, while according to forecasts, the growth rate of tourism revenues should be at least $ 6.7 billion.
Tourism has brought Georgia $ 3.2 billion last year.