Galt & Taggart: Georgia Lags Behind the Recovery of Global Tourism

Georgia is slightly behind the dynamics of the recovery of global tourism, which is explained by the situation in the region.

As stated in Galt & Taggart's research, the Russia-Ukraine war has weakened the arrival of tourists to Georgia, mainly from EU countries.

After the negative impact at the beginning of the Russia-Ukraine war, the recovery of tourism accelerated from May 2022.

The recovery of tourist visits compared to the level of 2019 amounted to 56.8% in the first half of 2022 and 78.7% in July-August 2022.

However, tourism revenue recovered faster than visits - 78.3% in the first half of 2022 and 123.6% in July-August 2022 compared to the corresponding periods of 2019. This is explained by the influx of migrants, high inflation and the structure of visits (tourist visits exceed one-day visits).

Tourists from the Middle East and Central Asia have already surpassed 2019 figures, while all neighboring countries are below pre-pandemic levels. For example, in the case of Azerbaijan, this is related to the restrictions maintained at the border crossing.