7,554,936 international travelers visited Georgia in 2017, which is an unprecedented number, as this shows 1,194,433 more travelers compared to the same period of 2016.

The Head of the Georgian National Tourism Administration (GNTA) Giorgi Chogovadze says there was 18.8% growth of tourists in 2017, adding this is the record number of visitors.

Chogovadze expects that around 8 million tourists will visit Georgia this year, adding this will bring around $3 billion US income to Georgia.

“In 2017, 7,554,936 tourists visited Georgia, which brought $2.7 billion worth of income to Georgia. This year, we have more positive expectations,” he added.

The Head of the GNTA says the largest number of visitors arrived from Armenia - 1,718,016 (+ 14.8%), followed by 1,694,998 (+ 11.2%) from Azerbaijan, 1,392,610 (+34.1%) from Russia, 1,246,745 (-0.8%) from Turkey and 322,938 (+ 118.3%) from Iran.

Chogovadze added that positive trend has been maintained from the European Union countries as well.

Moreover, the number of arrivals in Georgia increased in January-December from the United Kingdom + 39.9%, Netherlands + 31.1%, Spain + 29.9%, France + 29.6% and Germany + 25.7%.

By Thea Morrison

Photo source: GNTA

GeorgiaToday