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bolster economic growth and create job opportunities. The Plan shall also serve to highlight the importance of road safety as well as digital solutions in new projects, and to align design standards with current EU practices,” added EU Commissioner for Transport Violeta Bulc.
Passenger traffic at Georgia’s three international airports rose 23% y/y during January-October, the Georgian Civil Aviation Agency has reported.  A 28% y/y increase in the number of tourists visiting Georgia to more than 8mn was the major driver. The increases amount to a gain when it comes to tackling the country’s wide current account that stands at around 10% of GDP.
Georgia was ranked in fourth position among the world’s fastest-growing tourism destinations in the World Tourism Organisation’s (UNWTO’s)  2017 report .
The passenger traffic figure covers Georgia’s three main airports: Tbilisi Shota Rustaveli International Airport, Batumi International Airport and Kutaisi David Aghmashenebeli International Airport.
Kutaisi International Airport saw the greatest expansion: 39% to 512,386 passengers. That most likely followed the launching of routes to popular destinations like Berlin and London by low-cost airline Wizz Air.
With 3,286,344 passengers, Tbilisi International Airport remained the largest 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
Foreign tourists spent $164.5mn in Georgia in January, marking a fivefold increase year on year, the Georgian National Tourism Administration (GNTA) of the Ministry of Economy of Georgia announced, according to agenda.ge.
About $3.2bn was generated from tourism in Georgia in 2018. That was $498mn more compared to 2017, said the GNTA. Meanwhile, in all of 2017 international tourism revenue reached $2.7bn, which was $594mn more compared to 2016.
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 is increasingly celebrated as a "newly discovered destination" in international travel media.
9.1.5  Infrastructure and construction sector news
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
40  GEORGIA Country Report  March 2019    www.intellinews.com


































































































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