02 July 2019, 18:08
Georgian authorities report damage from decrease in number of Russian tourists
This year, the flow of tourists from Russia will decrease by about a million people, and that will damage the economy by 710 million US dollars. Such information was reported by Mariam Kvrivishvili, the head of the National Tourism Administration of Georgia.
The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that owners of travel agencies targeted on Russian tourists already begin facing the consequences of the ban on flights between Georgia and Russia: tourists cancel their reservations, and the demand for hotel bookings is falling.
Tourists from Moscow interviewed by the "Caucasian Knot" noted that they felt safe in Georgia, but many tourists from Russia began to ask questions concerning the return of tickets purchased by them.
According to Mariam Kvrivishvili, in 2018, Georgia was visited by 1.4 million tourists from Russia. Their visits brought the economy of Georgia about 2 billion laris (710 million US dollars).
The head of the National Tourism Administration of Georgia has also added that her institution is trying to minimize the damage caused by the decreased in the tourist flow from Russia and is looking for new markets, including in the United States and Europe. With this objective in mind, the Georgian National Tourism Administration has launched promotional videos about Georgia on leading Western TV channels.
This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on July 2, 2019 at 11:41 am MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.
