Mariam Kvrivishvili: “Tourism has reached a historic high.”
Verdict: FactCheck concludes that Mariam Kvrivishvili’s statement is MOSTLY TRUE.
Georgia recorded 5.1 million tourist visits in 2024, reflecting a 9% rise from 2023 and 0.2% from 2019. Growth continued into 2025 with 2.3 million visits in the first six months, 6.9% higher than the same period last year.
Whilst one-day and non-tourist visits also rose in early 2025 as compared to January-June 2024, they remain below pre-pandemic levels. Average length of stay stood at 5.4 nights in 2023 and 5.5 in 2024 whilst 2025 data has yet to be released.
Tourism revenue reached USD 2 billion in the first half of 2025, constituting a 3.8% increase. However, revenue growth lagged behind the rise in tourist numbers, suggesting a slight drop in the average spending per visitor – a trend also seen in 2024 when tourist numbers rose by 9% but revenue only 7.2%.
Whilst it is accurate that both tourist numbers and revenue are at record highs, the sector has consistently grown nominally outside the pandemic years – often at a faster pace. For example, tourist numbers rose 10% and revenue 5.2% in the first half of 2024.
Considering the factual accuracy but the downward trends in growth and per-visitor spending, FactCheck concludes that Mariam Kvrivishvili’s statement is MOSTLY TRUE.
Analysis
Commenting on tourism, Mariam Kvrivishvili stated: “Georgia recorded a historic high of 5.1 million tourist visits last year. It is important that this record growth trend continues this year, proving that the government’s policies are delivering long-term results. Our forecast and expectation is that growth in the tourism sector will continue into the future.”
A total of 5.1 million tourists visited Georgia in 2024 according to the Tourism Administration – a 9% increase from 2023 and 0.2% higher than in 2019. Despite this rise, the total number of visitors and international travellers has yet to return to pre-pandemic levels, mainly due to declines in one-day and other non-tourist visits.
Growth continued into the first half of 2025. International traveller visits rose by 4.4% year-over-year between January and June with tourist visits reflecting an increase of 6.9%. However, one-day and other non-tourist visits remain below pre-pandemic figures. For comparison, the total number of international travellers was 3.9 million in January-June 2019 as compared to 3.2 million in the same period of 2025.
As for the visitor composition, Russia overtook Turkey as the top source of visitors: arrivals from Russia rose by 53,000 in six months whilst those from Turkey dropped by 90,000. As a result, Russia’s share rose from 17.5% to 18.4% whilst Turkey’s fell from 20.7% to 16.9%.
Graph 1: Visits by Visitors (thousands)
Source: Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia
Despite a substantial growth, Azerbaijan’s share of total visitors remains below 5%, largely due to Baku’s decision to keep land borders closed since the pandemic.
Tourism revenue has risen alongside visitor numbers. Revenue grew 3.8% in January-June of this year as compared to the same period last year, reaching USD 2 billion.
However, revenue increased at roughly the same rate as overall visitor numbers and lagged behind tourist growth, indicating that average spending per tourist has not increased – in fact, it has slightly decreased.
Whilst Russia once again led in tourism revenue by country in January-June, generating USD 308 million (down from USD 280 million in the same period of 2024), its share dropped from 20% to 15.6%. The National Bank noted that 20.1% of Russian citizens in Georgia are estimated to have stayed – or intend to stay – longer than one year as of 30 June 2025. Spending by these individuals is excluded from tourism revenue under the International Monetary Fund’s methodology.
Despite a 10% revenue decline, Turkey ranked second with USD 259 million. Israel placed third with USD 242 million, marking a sharp 38% year-over-year rise. Revenue from the European Union rose by 12.5% to USD 277 million.
Graph 2: Tourism Revenue (USD Million)
Source: National Bank of Georgia
The annual report detailing tourists’ purpose of visit, length of stay, repeat visits and other tourism indicators does not provide six-month data. However, past reports show that 72.8% of visits in 2023 were repeat trips, with the share rising to 76% by 2024. Average length of stay also increased from 5.4 to 5.5 nights. India ranked first in the list for longest visits in both years, averaging 13.8 nights in 2023 and 17.4 in 2024. Overnight stay figures now far exceed pre-pandemic levels – the average visitor stayed 4.1 nights in 2019 as compared to 5.5 nights in 2024 – reflecting a 34% rise. However, total overnight stays grew by less than 13% – from 31.7 million to 35.7 million – due to fewer one-day visitors.
Publicly available data shows that tourist visits and tourism revenues have reached record highs, although the industry had been growing steadily even before the pandemic. Two points stand out: the growth rate has slowed and average spending per tourist has declined. Taking the accuracy of the facts cited into account – whilst noting that some key factors were overlooked – FactCheck concludes that Mariam Kvrivishvili’s statement is MOSTLY TRUE.
