Page 38 - GEORptFeb19

airport in the country. Its increase equates to 21% y/y. Batumi International Airport registered a 19% y/y gain, serving 555,693 passengers.
9.1.4 Tourism sector news
Some 8,679,544 international visitors arrived in Georgia during 2018, 25% more than in 2017 and a national record, Prime Minister Mamuka Bakhtadze announced on January 4.
"This is truly a unique success for a country of our size... Visitors are learning about our country and seeing that our unique culture is part of a common European civilisation," said Bakhtadze.
Georgia reported 6.9mn trips made by international visitors in 2017, up 20.2% from the previous year, according to state statistics office Geostat.
Bakhtadze also noted several other significant recognitions for Georgia in 2018—"host country" of the world-famous Frankfurt Book Fair, high rankings in safety and attractiveness for tourists from various organisations and publications, and, "according to the United Nations World Tourism Organization report, Georgia is one of the fastest growing tourist destinations in the world and comes in fourth place—second place in Europe."
9.1.5 Infrastructure and construction sector news
Georgia infrastructure projects rollout lags behind schedule
Georgia’s regional development and infrastructure ministry managed to spend only GEL627mn of GEL1bn earmarked for the first three-quarters of the year, deputy minister Mzia Giorgobiani said on October 10, as quoted by IPN.
The financing from international institutions was secured and all procedures were completed, but there were problems the tenders, he reportedly added. For the whole year, the ministry was earmarked a total budget of GEL1.8bn, or some 4.5% of Georgian GDP.
Despite the problems outlined by Giorgobiani, new projects are being launched. The construction of six new cable installations at the Gudauri ski resort was announced by the economy ministry, reported IPN.The ski slopes’ area will increase by 20%.
More infrastructure investment is needed in mountainous areas of Georgia to allow for tourism development, Prime Minister Mamuka Bakhtadze said during a visit to the resort of Beshumi (altitude 2,000 metres) in the Ajara region back on August 5. Many of Georgia’s summer and winter resorts are unprepared when it comes to coping with the growing number of tourists visiting the South
38 GEORGIA Country Report February 2019 www.intellinews.com