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Georgia reported 6.9mn trips by international visitors in 2017, up 20.2% from the previous year, according to state statistics office Geostat.   The country has seen a  steady rise in tourist numbers  in recent years, with visitors lured by its Black Sea beaches, rugged mountains, rich history and cuisine. The growth of the tourism sector is already having a major impact on the Georgian economy. The average visitor spent GEL888.7 (€310), of which the largest share, GEL204.7 was on accommodation, followed by leisure activities (GEL164.4), food and drink (GEL227.8), shopping (GEL121.8) and local transport (GEL74.6).
Neighbouring Azerbaijan and Armenia continued to be the top source countries for travellers to Georgia, with visitors from both passing the 1.2mn mark. There was also a hike in the number of arrivals from Russia to more than 1.1mn. Turkey was another major source country, accounting for around 1mn visitors.
Iran, while not among the top source countries, saw a hike in the number of its citizens visiting Georgia, to over 200,000. Iranians are heading in ever greater numbers to Georgia and the other South Caucasus countries to   celebrate the Nowruz Persian new year holiday .
A large number of Georgians living abroad also visited their home country, pushing the total number of visits by international non-resident travellers to 7.9mn. The largest share of visitors — 37.7% — came to Georgia on holiday, while 22.2% were there to visit friends or family, and a further 18.1% were in transit. Repeat visits are likely since the overwhelming majority of visitors surveyed by Geostat pronounced themselves either "satisfied" or "very satisfied" with their trips to Georgia.
9.1.6   TMT sector news
The World Bank, in collaboration with the Georgian economy ministry, will develop a National Innovation Ecosystem in the country in order to foster the digital economy and innovative start-ups.   The World Bank will finance the project, which is estimated to cost $40mn. Countries in the South Caucasus, including Georgia, have been seeking to develop their value-added sectors, such as information technology, in recent years. Armenia is a leader in this sector in the region, with IT and technology accounting for 5% of GDP, and a sizable qualified workforce that has attracted the likes of Microsoft to open up innovation centres in the country. Meanwhile, Azerbaijan has been working on digitising its public services and installing fibre-optic Internet connections across the country. Following in their footsteps, Georgia is also working on Internet connectivity and promoting tech start-ups. The project will comprise four parts, namely the development of an innovation infrastructure
47  GEORGIA Country Report   November 2018    www.intellinews.com


































































































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