Georgia’s reputation as a desirable holiday destination is growing, and the latest figures prove it.

The Ministry of Internal Affairs released statistical data showing 465,962 visitors came to Georgia in December 2015. That was seven percent more compared to December 2014.

The type of visitors to Georgia last month were:

• 155,048 tourists (33.3 percent of the total number of monthly visitors) – a 6.2 percent increase year-on-year (y/y).
• 89,141 transit visitors (19.1 percent of the total number of monthly visitors) – a 2.2 percent increase y/y.
• 221,773 ‘other’ visitors (47.6 percent of the total number of monthly visitors) – a 9.6 percent increase y/y.

Last month the most visitors came from Armenia (3.8 percent increase) followed by Turkey (1.8 percent increased), Azerbaijan (4.6 percent increase) Russia (13.3 percent increase) then Ukraine (10.3 percent increase).

A positive trend was also retained regarding visitors from European Union (EU) countries, where in January-December the most visitors came from Italy (15 percent), Lithuania (13 percent), Latvia (13 percent) and Germany (10 percent).

From central Asian countries, the majority of guests came from Kazakhstan (29 percent), while the leaders among Eastern European countries were Belarus (51 percent) and from Near East Israeli took the first position (40 percent).

Visitors from the Middle East grew exponentially month-on-month. Ministry figures revealed visitor numbers were up 675 percent from the United Arab Emirates and up 80 percent from Saudi Arabia. The number of visitors from the United States increased 10 percent.

Meanwhile in January-December Georgia welcomed almost 5.9 million visitors.

Specifically, the Ministry said 5,897,685 visitors had crossed the Georgian border between January 1 and December 30, which was seven percent more than last year’s corresponding figures.

Source:agenda.ge