The FINANCIAL — Vice Prime Minister of Georgia, Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development, Dimitry Kumsishvili evaluated the situation in the field of tourism in 2016 in front of the representatives of the media and claimed that the unprecedented growth in the number of international visitors was recorded this April.
According to the Vice Prime Minister, in April 2016, over 462 000 international travelers visited Georgia and this is by 17% greater number compared to the similar data of the previous year.
As the Vice Prime Minister stated, in April 2016, the number of visitor who stayed in the country for more than 24 hours amounted to 171 235 people and is increased by 19% compared to the April of the previous year.
The increase in the number of the international visitors is recorded during the 4 months. The total number of the international visitors is 1 596 916 (15.4% growth) while the number of international tourists is 578 100 (growth by 17%, compared to the data of the same period of 2015).
Dimitry Kumsishvili stated that the total income from tourism in 2015 amounted to 1.94 billion USD and this number is by 8.3% higher compared to the previous year. The total share of tourism in the GDP in 2015 equaled to 6.7%, according to Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development of Georgia.
In April 2016, the majority of the visitors were from Turkey (+12%), Azerbaijan (+17,6%), Armenia (+8.7%), Russia (+26.7%) and Ukraine (+25.9%).
Positive trend of increasing the number of visitors from the EU countries is still maintained. Number of travelers has significantly increased from Italy (+26%), Latvia (+25%) and France (+14%).
Countries of Central Asian: Kazakhstan (+29%) and Uzbekistan (+64%). Eastern Europe – Belarus (+36%) and Moldova (+36%), the Middle East – Israel (+106%), while Asian countries – the United Arab Emirates are introduces by 141% increase in a number of travelers.
Vice Prime Minister also talked about the government project Check in Georgia that envisages the large-scale events to be held throughout Georgia. According to Dimitry Kumsishvili, the implementation of this project will encourage the internal as well as international tourism.
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