Baku, Azerbaijan, October 5
By Tamilla Mammadova – Trend:
Some 917,044 international visitors (non-resident travelers of age 15 or older, who visited Georgia from their area of residence) arrived in Georgia in September 2019, which is 2.8 percent more than in September 2018, Trend reports referring to the Georgian National Tourism Administration.
At the same time, the number of tourist visits (visitor who spent at least one night in Georgia) in September 2019 increased by 0.6 percent to 539,524 people.
“The data of September 2019 again lag behind the forecasts that existed in the tourism sector of Georgia in recent years amid high growth dynamics,” the Georgian Tourism Administration said.
From January to September 2019, Georgia was visited by over 7.2 million international visitors, which is 6.6 percent more compared to the same period last year.
In September, a special growth of travelers was observed from Uzbekistan (an increase of 130.4 percent), Kyrgyzstan (an increase of 84.4 percent), Kazakhstan (an increase of 56.4 percent), China (an increase of 48.9 percent), Saudi Arabia (an increase of 45.6 percent) and Kuwait (an increase of 32.8 percent).
In addition, Georgia’s popularity among travelers from EU countries is also growing: the number of tourists from Germany to Georgia increased by 37.8 percent, from the UK - by 28.9 percent, from Poland - by 26.8 percent, from France - by 25.9 percent, from the Netherlands - by 25.4 percent.
According to preliminary data for January-September of this year, income from international tourism in Georgia amounted to $2.2 billion. This is 0.4 percent less compared to the same period last year.
According to August 2019, the country's income from international tourism is $396 million, which is 10.6 percent less compared to the same period last year.
According to the results of the first quarter of 2019, tourism brought Georgia $578 million (an increase of 5 percent compared to the first quarter of 2018).