Page 44 - GEORptSep19

Russian tourists still eager to visit Georgia July statistics show
Economy was reported as announcing by Georgia Today on August 8. Deputy Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development Nikoloz Alavidze and Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Alexander Khvtisiashvili met with the editor in-chief of National Geographic’s Traveler magazine Justin Kavanagh to discuss the planned content.
Georgia’s tourism industry, a significant source of revenues for the small country and a key element in its balance of payments, has hit difficulties that arose in June after anti-Russian protests caused Russia to impose a soft embargo on its southern neighbour as diplomatic tensions rose. Direct flights between the two countries were banned by the Kremlin, although the right of Russians to visit Georgia was not removed. As a result, the recorded number of Russian tourists arriving in Georgia dropped by 6.4% y/y in July, bring the total number of tourists to 570,482—only 1% up y/y compared to the 20% y/y growth rate expected (and achieved in the previous months of the year). Global media and social media have witnessed several attempts to promote Georgia as a tourism attraction since Russia set the soft embargo.
The German edition of Der Spiegel w eekly news magazine has dedicated an extensive article to Georgia's tourism potential, Business media reported . "This is a country where forest flowers bloom in yellow, blue, lilac, pink, white and red," the author of the piece wrote.
Part of Georgia's tourism boom, which became especially popular with foreigners just a few years ago, is formerly ‘no-go area’ Svaneti, where tourists once dared not visit because of kidnappings and attacks, the German publication observed.
Georgia hosted 1,099,474 international visitors (+5.8% y/y) and 570,482 tourists (+1% y/y) in July, according to the Georgian National Tourism Administration (GNTA).
GNTA officials said they expected a 20% y/y rise in the tourist count for the month, but given the flight ban introduced by Russia in early July after anti-Russian demonstrations in Tbilisi the positive performance was outstanding.
The number of Russian tourists dropped by 6.4% y/y in July. Russia counts as the largest origin of foreign tourists who go to Georgia. The moderate decline in the number of Russian tourists thus offset the rising number of foreign tourists from other countries.
"Despite the current situation, it seems that Russian tourists want to visit Georgia," Mariam Kvrivishvili, Head of Georgia’s National Tourism Administration was quoted as saying by Interpressnews.
“We expected that this month would have seen a record high and the tourist visits would have increased by a two-figure number, but this could not be achieved for reasons beyond our control, and we tried to minimise the loss. Despite the decrease, we maintained the positive growth rate,” said Kvrivishvili.
“We saw in July that despite the current situation, Russian tourists are eager to visit Georgia. The tendency of Russian citizens entering Georgia via land transport has increased and they also use transit routes,” Kvrivishvili added. Most visitors in July came from Azerbaijan (+13.1% y/y), Russia (-6.4% y/y), Turkey (+9.6%) and Armenia (+3.2%), GNTA said.
While the number of visitors from Russia declined rather moderately, a positive trend was maintained by visitors from the European Union: Germany (+40.7% y/y), Latvia (+31.6% y/y), Poland (+26.9% y/y), the UK (+24.6% y/y) and France (+25.5% y/y).
The countries with the most significant increase in the number of visitors to Georgia were, however, from Asia and particularly from the former Soviet area:
44 GEORGIA Country Report September 2019 www.intellinews.com