Visitors

  • In 4Q23, the number of international visitors were down 1.5% y/y to 1.3mn persons. This reduction is attributed to a decrease in visitors from Turkey, Russia, Ukraine and Israel.
  • Overall, the total number of international visitors reached 6.2mn in 2023, equivalent to 79.9% of the 2019 levels. Notably, Georgia’s recovery lags behind the global, but global tourism itself has not fully recovered to 2019 levels, reaching 88% in 2023. The primary factor hindering full recovery in Georgia is the closed border with Azerbaijan, expected to remain shut until 2Q24. Additionally, ongoing conflicts and wars among the top contributing countries, including Ukraine-Russia, Armenia- Azerbaijan, as well as the Israel-Hamas conflict, have influenced the recovery trends in Georgia, with visitors from these countries still lagging behind 2019 levels.

Revenues

  • Tourism revenues in 4Q23 were down 12.6% y/y to US$ 874mn. This drop is mainly due to migrants who boosted revenues in 4Q22 transitioning to residents, resulting in their spending no longer being counted as tourism revenue.
  • For the full 2023, tourism revenues amounted to US$ 4.1bn or 126.2% of 2019 level.  The growth in tourism revenues in 2023 vs 2019 can be attributed to several factors, including the inflation, GEL appreciation, a higher proportion of airport arrivals (typically high-spending visitors) and longer stays from certain top contributing countries. A shift in the tourist demographic also supported the revenue growth, with a decline in the share of budget-conscious Azeri tourists counterbalanced by higher spenders. Russia accounted for 22.7% of the total tourism revenues, followed by Turkey (15.3%) and EU (13.3%) in 2023. 
  • We expect tourism revenues to reach US$ 4.5bn in 2024 equivalent to 137% of the figures recorded in 2019.