Georgia: The Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development presented the summary report of the tourism and aviation results for 2023 and presented the plans for the current year.
The event was opened with the speech of Prime Minister of Georgia Irakli Kobakhidze. It was attended by the First Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development Levan Davitashvili, members of the government and parliament, representatives of the public and private sector, diplomatic corps and international financial organizations.
The presentation of report and future plans were presented by Deputy Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development Mariam Kvrivishvili.
According to him, the last year was a record-breaking performance for both industries, including the country earning $4.1 billion from tourism and Georgian airports serving 6 million passengers.
As First Vice Prime Minister Levan Davitashvili noted, the successful activities of the tourism and aviation sectors play an important role in the growth of the economy and this is the result of planned, consistent policy of the state, which it implements year after year.
The previous year i.e. 2023 was particularly successful for the tourism industry, including a number of statistics on international travelers’ visits – tallying to over seven million.
In addition, last year, 4,669,467 international tourist visits took place in Georgia – an increase of +27.8% compared to 2022.
Revenues from international tourism in 2023 exceeded the data of 2022 by 17.3% (608.7 million. U.S.A. With a dollar), which is over the top.
According to global revenue from tourism, recovery is 93%. It is also noted that in 2023 Georgia International Tourist Exhibition ITB Berlin was the host country and was honoured in front of up to two hundred thousand visitors from all over the world.
This year, Georgia will host World Tourism Day, and it will also be the host country of the m&I Forum.
The year 2023 was also successful with large-scale infrastructure projects carried out on Georgian mountain resorts – 300 million in Bakuriani. Lari investment was implemented, and in Gudauri, the investment amount is 70 million. Lari has made it.
As a result, last year, Georgia hosted the World Championships in Freestyle, Snowboarding and Frisky in Bakuriani, and the country entered the IASF’s permanent calendar – where international sporting events are held annually, including world stages.
In addition, it is planned to build a new terminal of Mestia Airport and expansion of Kutaisi International Airport. It is noted that work on Tbilisi’s new international airport project has started.
The event emphasized that the growth/development of these two key sectors of the economy – tourism and aviation are important to the economic picture of the whole country and, more importantly, new jobs and greater welfare for the population.
In addition, the Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development predicts that 2024 will be even more successful, impacting the aviation sector with 6.8 million passengers and $4.5 billion in tourism revenue.
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